God of the Covenant

By David Lusk



Grateful Acknowledgment

Someone gave me a gift in the early days of this study. It was Mont Smith's book, What the Bible Says About Covenant. I was smitten from the first reading, and "borrowed heavily" from his work to teach my early classes. (As the young people say, I "robbed him blind").

As my study grew, other sources were added, but still quotations from Mont were many. Thus in preparation for the first issue of this book, I phoned Dr. Smith and asked permission to use his superb material. He didn't mind at all and graciously gave me leave to use what I wanted out of his publication. You will notice that I did.

But I use it with the high recommendation that you get your own copy of his work (see the bibliography on page 262 for details). His points are not my points, and you will be enriched. Just the one chapter on "Yahweh vs. Baal" (chapter 4: "Prophet and Covenant") makes the book worth the price. I have to warn you that his book is in and out of print, but it would pay you to get a copy somewhere.

Thank you, Dr. Smith, for your kindness.

Unless noted, all scripture quotations in this book are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright, 1973, 1978, 1984. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.



To Donna, wife of my youth,
who made a marriage covenant with me
decades ago,
and has shown me
"Hesed" ever since.



Preface

A number of years ago, a Christian brother and I got into a discussion. We kept it cool and considerate, but it was obvious we both felt strongly about what we believed. We agreed to meet on a Saturday morning to talk further.

Fifteen minutes into that discussion, I said something about "covenant" and he disagreed. Neither of us really knew what we were talking about so we adjourned to the library to study some "Covenant" before we spoke.

One year and one month later, the brother and I were still studying "Covenant."

I got so rich in the investigation, I preached a sermon on it to the church. It was so well received that I preached two sermons in a gospel meeting, four in a seminar, five in another seminar, six to the church some time later; then when I moved to another congregation, I preached eight. Still the interest was high enough that the elders asked me to do a 13-week Bible study on the subject. Later I did a video series that is now available. I have been growing and learning all the time. You hold in your hand the result of all those years' growth.

This is not light reading; I couldn't make it so. But I beg you read on, even when the going gets tedious. It will be well worth it if you do.

Study this subject on your own, then teach the concept to your brethren. We need this desperately in our churches! I contend that no one will fully understand and appreciate their precious standing with Christ until they see that relationship through the truths of "Covenant."
David Lusk



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

Chapter 1: The Making of a Covenant 1

Chapter 2: Let's Make A Deal 29

Chapter 3: The Threshold Covenant 45

Chapter 4: The Salt Covenant 61

Chapter 5: Significant Old Testament Covenants (1) 75

Chapter 6: Significant Old Testament Covenants (2) 99

Chapter 7: The Greatest Covenant of All 117

Chapter 8: Superior Covenant Living 135

Chapter 9: God's Motives in Covenant-making 145

Chapter 10: I Swear To God! 153

Chapter 11: Covenant Renewal 165

Chapter 12: The "Hesed" of God 181

Chapter 13: Those Who Trusted In The "Hesed" 195

Chapter 14: God's Marriage Covenant 205

Chapter 15:The Human Marriage Covenant 215

Chapter 16: The Silence of the Lamb 249



Chapter 1

HOW GOD MAKES COVENANT

A man attended one of my "Covenant seminars." He listened carefully and studied along with great interest. Suddenly his eyes began to brighten and he "caught it"-(that is the term I use for those people who understand the truths of covenant as it unfolds before them). One week later, I received a letter from him saying that he hadn't been able to sleep since the seminar. He was so excited, he couldn't think of anything but "covenant." Such is the cost when you "catch it."

In another seminar, an elder came to me and said "I feel like a fool not having known this before, but I feel so good having learned it now." He had "caught on."

Yet another man in Oklahoma found an early edition of this book somewhere. He read it-and then read it again-then again-ten times at last count. He incorporated these truths into a personal Bible study and at this writing had baptized three people in two studies. He was excited, because he "caught on."

A woman in Amarillo, Texas had the book given to her. Like the others, she got excited and began teaching the subject in her ladies' Bible class. Over the years, she has

1



Chapter 1

given away dozens of copies of this book, and she is still at it. She "caught it."

And so it goes-one person at a time, here and there, totalling into the hundreds -their lives are changed forever because they caught what you are going to learn.

Next to Jesus and His kingdom, what you are about to study is the most important concept that you will learn in your life. I know, that sounds almost boastful, but I am telling you the truth! Yet most of us are extremely ignorant of "covenant." I certainly was. When I "caught on" I never was the same. For years now, I have been visiting churches and colleges changing other people's lives as I can.

If you "catch on," you will be changed forever too. I hope I can enroll you in the "covenant cause" so you can work with me to share this word with still others.

Raise your right hand and enter an agreement with me. Tell me you are going to make yourself read all of this book-all of it! Make a covenant with me that you will force yourself to finish what you start. It is not always easy, but keep reading! You are going to get so excited that you will praise God and wonder why you didn't know this before.

Now that I have you awake and excited, let's begin our study.

I like a good story that makes a good point. To begin our study of "covenant," let me tell you three true stories. These will help you understand more clearly the "jargon" we

2



Chapter 1

will be using as we get to the subject of "covenant".

STORY NUMBER ONE

On November 11, 1918, the Germans and the allied forces signed what was known as an "armistice agreement" to end World War I. You might be interested in knowing that an "armistice" is merely a "temporary cessation of war based on the input of both sides." Neither of the two warring factions really "won." They were just weary. They sat down and negotiated a settlement that said, "I will stop if you will." By mutual agreement, the opposing forces laid down their arms and went home. All was quiet on the Western front.

Remember that story, because it is going to illustrate the first kind of covenant we will investigate later.

STORY NUMBER Two

Some twenty years after the first World War, it all broke out again. Most of the same countries were allied on each side (though this time, the Axis forces included the unlikely partnership with Japan). Germany and the European forces finally were defeated, and then all of the Allied might was trained on Japan.

On August 6, 1945, a bomber called the Enola Gay was dispatched to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. After two bombs were dropped, that nation was brought to its knees. The Japanese asked for peace.

On September 9, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, the warring

3



Chapter 1

sides met to sign a peace treaty. But this was no "armistice agreement." This was a pact of unconditional surrender dictated by the Allies and signed by the humbled nation of Japan.

That is the second kind of covenant we will come back to in a while.

STORY NUMBER THREE

One night when I lived in Texas, I received a phone call from a friend of mine who lives in Arizona. We chatted for a while, and then he asked if my wife and I had ever gone to the Grand Canyon. I answered "no." He said, "Come go with my wife and me." I explained that I was poor, and I didn't have the money, but that didn't put him off a bit. He replied, "I know you are a poor preacher-I have heard you preach before." It was a few minutes before I could get him to stop laughing and get serious. "Anyway," he continued, "my wife and I have decided we are going to pay your way on this vacation."

And you know, he was true to his word. Wayne and his wife met us at the airport. We rode in a van they had rented. We ate meals and munchies they paid for. We played golf on courses my friend reserved. We went to see sights they had planned, and we enjoyed a wonderful time at no expense to Donna and me.

The two treaties that ended those two wars plus the story of the friend on the phone perfectly illustrate the concept of covenant that we find in the Bible.

4



Chapter 1

THE PARITY COVENANT

Remember the first treaty? It was the "armistice." That kind of agreement was a "agreement between equals." Both sides had a say, and both sides got part of their way.

The Bible speaks of covenants like that- agreements made between peer partners who "hammer out" a consensus. It is called a "parity agreement"-an agreement between equals. Get that word, "Parity" into your vocabulary.

I liken such a covenant to me selling you a car. I want $10,000 for my used car. You want the car, but you will only pay $5,000. What do we do? We sit down and discuss it. You come up-$5,000, $6,000, $7000, while I come down, $10,000, $9, 995, 9, 990. After a while, I sell you my car for $9, 980. What a deal!

Seriously though, that is a "parity agreement." I demanded certain things, and you offered certain things. After a while, we hit a deal that both of us agreed on-a "parity agreement." Say those words out loud about three times. Got it?

But remember this: you will never find God entering into an agreement like that. Why? Because such a covenant is an agreement between equals. God couldn't find anyone with whom to work out such a deal. There is no one equal with God.

5



Chapter 1

THE SUZERAINTY COVENANT

That second treaty-the one signed in Tokyo-was different. It was what the ancients called a "suzerainty treaty." Get that term in your mind too. Such an agreement was imposed by a superior party called a suzerain over an inferior called a vassal. The superior dictates the terms, and the inferior had better keep them if he knows what's good for him. This is an agreement involving mutual obligation. A mutual response is expected, with both sides doing something to keep the covenant.

You will see God making many of these type covenants in the Bible. He (the superior) makes covenant with us (the inferior). He offers certain blessings, we take on certain responsibilities. He does some things-we do some things. This is the kind of covenant we most understand (after all, we see it when God made a covenant with Israel through Moses on Sinai) but it is not necessarily the covenant that God made most often. God likes this next kind.

THE CHARTER AGREEMENT

The third story (the one about my friend paying for my vacation,) is actually a story of "covenant" too. When you learn about it in the Bible (and it is the most beautiful kind of covenant), you will enjoy it. It is called by many names. Get one of them into your mind. It is called:

A "patron covenant"
A "charter covenant"

6



Chapter 1

A "unilateral (one sided) covenant."1
A "covenant of grant"2 because one member of the covenant merely grants something to the other.

Here is the strange thing about this covenant: this is an agreement made by only one person-not two.

This amazing covenant takes the form of a "sovereign promise," voluntarily taken by one party to bless the other party. It is in no way dependant upon human response. When God makes such a covenant, He offers His favors unconditionally to a chosen one (like Abraham). God asks nothing but Abraham's trust. He wants merely to bless Abraham and all his descendants after him.

In a covenant like this one, man doesn't have to "do" anything-he merely trusts God to do what He has promised. God binds himself with a promise much like my friend bound himself to pay for my vacation. (For an example of such a covenant, see Genesis 15.)

THE UNILATERAL COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM

In that famous covenant of Genesis 15, God alone

1Everett Ferguson, The Church of Christ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996): 3.
2M. Winfield, "The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament in the Old Testament and In The Ancient Near East," The Journal of the American Oriental Society 90 (1970), 184.

7



Chapter 1

passed through the pieces of slain animals. That meant that God alone was binding Himself to do something for Abraham. Abraham did not pass through those slain animals, because Abraham took on no responsibility in the matter. Like me, Abraham was "getting it all paid for" by a friend.

But let's add another thought here (not wanting to be confusing.) Even though the covenant of promise was freely extended to Abraham, God later demanded circumcision of any descendant who wants to remain in that covenant. God declared in Genesis 17:14

"Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

How does one "break" a covenant of promise? He disqualifies himself from being blessed by refusing the "sign" of that covenant in his body. God recognizes no one who does not have the sign; just like one cannot get into a free show without a ticket.

Now if you have those three covenants clearly in mind, we can go on to step two.

ONLY IN COVENANT

Our God has always been a covenant God. He deals with people only by way of covenant.

In creating the heavens and the earth, He made a covenant with creation. (Jeremiah 31:35,

8



Chapter 1

33:20).

In dealing with humans, He first makes covenant with them.

Thus the Bible is replete with covenants of all kinds, written in "covenant language" all can understand. To understand the Bible, we need to understand covenants. And to understand covenants, we treat it like a building project. We begin by clearing the land down to bedrock and then digging some footings. Our study now turns to Bible terminology.

DEFINITION OF COVENANT

Generally speaking, the term covenant is translated as "a contract or agreement between two, in that each agrees to do something of benefit to the other"1 or "an agreement between two or more persons to do or to refrain from doing some act. A compact or arrangement between two parties."2.

Yet that is only the "bare bones" definition. Just getting a "Webster-type" definition misses the point. Bible covenants are too big for such a small definition.

1Montgomery F. Essig, The Comprehensive Analysis of the Bible (Nashville: Southwestern, 1951): 151 This definition would not fit in the case of a Unilateral covenant-only one party assumes responsibility in such cases.
2Norman L. Geisler &amp; William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago: Moody, 1980): 18.

9



Chapter 1

Primitive, pagan covenants were usually "blood covenants" where two people made agreements by cutting into their own flesh, and/or drinking one another's blood. Later such covenants were made by killing animals and using their blood. This is the kind of covenant that we will be studying, because most Bible covenants were "blood covenants."1

Let me tell you about the very best definition for covenant I have ever found. O. Palmer Robertson said that the term covenant means, "A bond in blood sovereignly administered."2 That is exactly the definition we need. Why?

A covenant is indeed a bond. The parties become "one" when covenants are formed. Someone said, "when two people make covenant, two wills become one."
A covenant is always formed by "touching blood." Even in pagan times, blood has always been the common thread that ties covenants together-either animal blood, or men's own ("blood brother"covenants were made when men cut themselves and mingled their blood in various ways.)
And it is dictated by a "sovereign,"3

1H. Clay Trumbull, Salt Covenant (Impact Christian Books: Kirkwood, Mo. 2000):5.
2O. Palmer Robertson, 4
3Sovereign means "independent of all others." God doesn't need us or anyone to function.

10



Chapter 1

magnificent God who loves us and wants only the best for us.

THE WORD IN HEBREW

So let's go to the Bible to see some of these "bonds in blood." The word in the Hebrew language is picturesque. It is the word b'rith meaning "to cut" or "bind." It probably meant to "bind together in an alliance." I say "probably" because, though it is used 280 times in the Old Testament, we are not sure of the word's origin.1

Some trace it to barah which means "to eat."
Others see it coming from birit meaning "between." (In the early days they used to cut a donkey between covenant participants.)
Others find in the word an Akkadian root: baru-"to bind, to fetter."

It is important to notice, however, that in Bible times, the word covenant was a commonly used word. The average man on the street used it often.2 He understood the language

1O. Palmer Robertson. studied the etymology of the word in depth: The Christ of the Covenants (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian &amp; Reformed, 1980): 18.
2Over the years, archaeologists digging in the ruins of Babylon, Palestine, Egypt and in other places have found many references to "treaties" and "covenants" between states and people. As early as 2500 B.C. business, war, and government-- all of life was carried on by way of covenant. Searchers have found friendship treaties, peace treaties,

11



Chapter 1

in which covenants were written. "There can be no doubt that berith belongs primarily to the secular vocabulary, and means 'cutting in pieces,' namely, of one or more sacrificial victims."1

In the Old Testament, the phrase "to make a covenant" literally reads "to cut a covenant." The term is used throughout the entire Old Testament: in the Law,2 the Prophets,3 and in the Writings.4

Because the Old Testament Hebrew vocabulary was so small and the language was so simple, one word had to mean many things. Thus in the Hebrew, the various kinds of covenants (parity treaties, suzerainty treaties, etc.), are not determined by the words, so much as by the context.

When people made a covenant, you have to watch closely. Did they enter such an agreement as friends did? Then it is a "parity" agreement (1 Sam. 18:l-4). Did one man

commerce agreements, etc. Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Biblical World, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1966), 175.

1Leon Morris, Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1957): 67.
2Gen. 15:18; 21:27, 32; 26:2g; 31:44; Exod. 23:32, 34; 24:8; 34:10, 12, 15, 17; Deut. 4:23; 5:2, 3; 7:2; 9:9; 29:l, 12, 14, 25, 29; 31:16.
3Josh. 9:6 ff.; 24:25; Judg. 2:2; 1 Sam. 11:l, 2; 2 Sam. 3:12 ff.; 1 Kings 5:12 ff.
4Job 31:l; Ps. 50:5; 1 Chron. 11:3, 2 Chron. 6:11; Ezra 10:3; Neh. 9:8.

12



Chapter 1

force an agreement upon another? Then it is a "Suzerainty treaty" (1 Samuel 11:1 and following). Did one person promise something to someone else on oath? Then it is a "Charter agreement." (Genesis 24:9) The Bible writers use the word B'rith to describe all three.

So the Hebrew word for "covenant" might mean to "cut, to agree, to bind, to make an arrangement"-but the text alone doesn't always tell what kind of covenant was meant. The kind of covenant they were making had to be determined by the context of the passage.

THE MEANING OF THE TERM IN GREEK

The Greek language, on the other hand, is profuse. It is true: "the Greeks had a word for it." The Greek language has three totally different words for the different kinds of treaties we have mentioned.

Sunatheke

The first word, for example, is sunatheke (συνεθηκε-or as it is used in the Bible, as a verb in the "middle tense" suntithami συντιθημι. It means "to put together; to agree, assent").1 Sunatheke is describing a negotiated contract, in which both parties work out the terms (bartering, dealing, etc.). That is the word for our armistice that we saw earlier.

1W.E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleeting Revell, 1966): 251. See the word in John 9:22; Acts 23:20; Luke 22:5.

13



Chapter 1

Diatheke

The second word is διατἠκε (diathake) a non-negotiated treaty where the terms are laid out by the superior party)."1 Diatheke is properly translated as "a disposition," an "arrangement made by one party with plenary power, which the other party may accept or reject, but cannot alter."2

W.E. Vine says that diathake also carries the idea of a single person making a commitment. That could mean one is forced into doing something the other is not.

"In contradistinction to the English word 'covenant' (lit. a coming together), which signifies a mutual undertaking between two parties or more, each binding himself to fulfil obligations, it does not in itself contain the ideal of joint obligation; it mostly signifies an obligation undertaken by a single person."3

1This is the most popular "covenant" word in the New Testament, and is sometimes used to mean merely "a disposition, arrangement, of any sort, which one wishes to be valid". In popular use, it can also mean, "the last disposition which one makes of his earthly possessions after his death, a testament or will, a compact, a covenant, a testament." Friberg Lexicon.
2James Moulton &amp; George Milligan, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1968): 2:128
3Vine, 250

14



Chapter 1

I suppose, since God is God, and since He is all powerful and sovereign, He could just force men into covenant with Himself if He chose. He could just announce to us, "You are under covenant with Me, like it or not!" But thank God, He doesn't.

When God enters into a diatheke with men, in His grace he chooses a special form of covenant-making called a patron covenant. In such covenants, the terms are indeed extended by the superior-he is in charge, but the vassal has at least a choice of entering or not."1 He invites us to enter, He never forces us. We can say "yes" or "no."

THEN A TWIST ON THE WORD

In the New Testament, however, the word may take on a strange second meaning, if you are using the King James Version. There diatheke is used to describe, not a covenant, but also a "last will and testament." After all, the King James version translates our diatheke 13 times as "Testament" (or as we would think of it, "Will") and 20 times as "covenant." When you come to passages like Hebrews 9:15 and following, it at first sounds like the inspired writer is talking about someone dying and leaving a "will." But is that the case?

Hebrews 9:16 For where a testament (diatheke) is, there must also of necessity be the death of

1God has never forced covenant upon people. He did say, "I will make my covenant with you..." (Gen. 6:18), but in each instance it is obvious that the man wanted such a covenant.

15



Chapter 1

the testator.
17 For a testament (diatheke) is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. (KJV)

Other scholars say this translation is wrong. They have a real problem with the word diatheke being translated as "will." They have rejected that concept and declare that the word never means "will" or "testament."

At first, I have to say that I laughed at the reasoning of those authors.1 It was so clear that the Hebrew writer was indeed talking about a "will". I took about a page in the old edition of this book to belittle the opposition's thinking. But thank God we sometimes live to change our minds, don't we? I began studying it closer, and I don't believe my old view any more.

I will leave the details of argument to people who are much more interested in that point.2 Let me, instead merely give you the literal reading of the Greek in that passage. The Concordant Literal New Testament gives the passage like this:

1"...the concept of a 'last will and testament' must be rejected. It is simply impossible to do justice to the biblical concept of 'covenant' and at the same time to introduce an idea of 'last will and testament.' " Robertson, 11
2Stanley W. Paher, The Eternal Covenant, (Nevada Publications: Las Vegas, 1996): 68-74. Though I cannot agree with Stanley's premise of "one covenant" throughout history, he makes a very interesting argument that the word must be "covenant," and I believe he is right.

16



Chapter 1

For where there is a covenant, it is necessary to bring in the death of the covenant victim, for a covenant is confirmed over the dead one, since it is not availing at any time while the covenant victim is living.

The better reading of this text doesn't describe some person dying and leaving a "Last Will and Testament." Instead, it seems to be a talking about a lamb-a covenant victim (Jesus, the Lamb of God), dying to confirm the covenant-a much better illustration in the context of that passage.

But what of the other places in the King James Bible? can we use both covenant and testament? Could the KJV be correct in using both words to translate the same Greek word? Brinsmead, disagreeing with my view, at least may have the answer to that question:

There has been some uncertainty (evidenced by the New Testament translators, for instance) as to whether the New Testament diatheke should be translated as covenant or testament (will). Undoubtedly, in view of the fact that the concept comes from the Old Testament, covenant is better translation, with the possible exception of Hebrews 9:16, 17.

Some scholars, wishing to bend every-thing into the mold of berith, even contend that Hebrews 9:16, 17 does not mean will and testament. This, however, is not supported by the

17



Chapter 1

face-value context. The Bible does not always fit into the precise systematic mold of scholars.

Granting that the New Testament word diatheke primarily means disposition and arrangement corresponding to the Old Testament berith, is it not conceivable that, since diatheke also had the popularly understood meaning of will and testament, the apostles could at times make a play upon this double meaning? Perhaps in Galatians 3:15 Paul is also making a play upon the double meaning of diatheke.1

THE IMPORTANCE OF COVENANT IN OUR UNDER-STANDING.

When I began my study on covenant, I was shocked to hear some of the statements scholars made. They raved and carried on about the importance of the covenant concept. It wouldn't have surprised me to hear them say an understanding of covenant was important; but instead I heard them say covenant was vital. They said such things as the following:

Edward J. Young:

Never believe you have understood anything

1Robert Brinsmead, "The Importance of Covenant" Present Truth 7 (November 1976):36.

18



Chapter 1

about the Bible until you have reduced it to a corollary of 'covenant.'1

David Alexander

It can be said that the entire religion of Israel presupposes for its basis a covenant between God and the nation he has chosen.2

Mont Smith

One must be very careful to read the Bible as he would a treaty document, not as a tool for divination, or as a document that carries some magical power to reveal privately some message from God. It is a treaty paper and is straightforward in language...3

Robert Brinsmead

This idea of a covenantal relationship between God and man is so basic and overwhelmingly predominant in the scriptures that the two great sections of the Bible have appropriately been called the Old Testament (covenant) and the

1Edward J. Young, An Introduction To The Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1965), 47.
2David Alexander, Eerdman's Handbook To The Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 196.
3Mont W. Smith, 9.

19



Chapter 1

New Testament (covenant)... The covenant theme is not just one of many interesting Bible doctrines; it is part of the very framework of Biblical theology. Whereas the study of some things in the Bible may be regarded as optional as far as understanding its essential message is concerned, some understanding and appreciation of the covenants is indispensable to a sound knowledge of the scriptures.1

Hearing such things, it almost became a challenge to prove them untrue. Yet the more study that was done, the more I was proven wrong. The more evidence that was uncovered, the more those statements were certified to be totally correct. Understanding the concept of covenant, the entire Bible takes on new meaning.

LOOKING AT THE BIBLE AS A LEGAL PAPER

Do you remember "Indiana Jones" as he searched for the Ark of the Covenant? He found a metal disk. It was a strange looking thing, but as he searched in Egypt, he came across a burial chamber. There on the floor was a model city of Thebes. He picked up a rod off the floor and affixed the disk to the rod. Then he placed the rod in a slot in the floor, and waited. When the sun hit the disk just right, it sent a beam gleaming through the disk. Suddenly, like magic, the beam of light highlighted a certain location on the scale model of the city on the floor. That is where the ark was located! It all fell into place. At last, he understood where to find the

1Robert Brinsmead, 37.

20



Chapter 1

ark!

When you approach the Bible, you may or may not understand it. But when you put the "covenant disk" up to your eyes, suddenly it all begins to make sense. From first to last, this Bible is a treaty--or a series of treaties God made with His people. When you look through the "covenant paradigm" things begin to become clear as day. This I promise you!

Now understand, the Bible is not a covenant; but it is a record of many covenants. Thus even the vocabulary found in the Bible is covenant vocabulary. Words take on a new and special meaning when seen through covenant.

Scan through the following words. You don't have to read this section closely, but close enough to get the point: the Bible was written using covenant words, and takes on new meaning when we learn these words.

WORDS TAKE ON NEW MEANING

RIGHTEOUSNESS: means keeping covenant. It was used with Adam, in the law of Moses (Deut. 6:25), and in the New Testament (I John 3:7). "He that does what is right is righteous." What is "right" is always stipulated in a covenant.

JUSTICE: the word mishpath in Hebrew, meant "making judgments or decisions that are in harmony with the covenant." Another way of saying it is "deciding rightly" (Deut. 33:21).

21



Chapter 1

HEARING: doing what the man was told to do (Deut. 28:2, 13, 15). What he had said to do was in the treaty.

SIN: breach of the covenant, or disobedience (Deut. 28:58-61). John said that sin was disobedience. Offerings for sins were for breach of the law of God, whether one realized he was doing it or not (Lev. 4:2, 13, 22, 27).

SACRIFICES: covenant renewal. The entire sacrificial system provided for "atonement" for sins committed. The system was a vital part of the old covenant, and when the Old Covenant was done away, the entire sacrificial system was done away with it (Heb. 10:1-10).

THE LAW: the statement of stipulations for Israel. It was a word having a broader and milder connotation than European or American concepts of law. Law was a tool to help maintain good relationships. It helped one covenant partner know what the other could not abide. It allowed great areas of freedom. That which was not forbidden was presumed to be permitted. The Law in Israel later come to mean the covenant itself, and later yet the entire body of scripture of the Old Testament.1

BLESSINGS: were covenant blessings. Some common blessings were given to all descendants of Adam, but others were special and limited to the people of the covenant. They were extensive, specific, and related to each individual covenant (Deut. 28:1-14).

1Brinsmead, 38.

22



Chapter 1

CURSES. almost always related to covenant. There is a long list in the Old Testament in various places, all part of the old covenant (Deut. 28:15ff). When neighboring tribes about Israel were cursed by God, it was to insure the survival of Israel as a covenant people and to make good the promises made to their fathers (Deut. 9:l-6).

PROPHETS: not ecstatic visionaries, but sober lawyers of the covenant, pressing Yahweh's lawsuit against a sinful and covenant-breaking nation. They were to aid Israel in keeping their relationship with Yahweh sound and secure. All the thunderings about sin by the prophets were related to the law of Moses. This fact was confessed by them (Dan. 9:7-19).

LOVING THE LORD: used in parallel with keeping His statutes, walking in His ways and cleaving to Him. All these phrases were diplomatic terms for keeping a treaty.

CALLED, ELECT, ELECTED, CHOSEN: all words used frequently in the scripture and "and all trace back to the covenant with Abraham"(p. 43).1

DETERMINATE, PREDETERMINED, PREDESTINATED: all trace back to the determination of God to bless all mankind in Christ who was the seed of woman and of

1In the word studies from this word down, I have taken several definitions from Alan Richardson and John Bowden, The West-minster Theological Dictionary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983).

23



Chapter 1

Abraham. This determination began with "the choice of Abraham" (p. 64).

GRACE: "The grace of God in the Old Testament is closely connected with the idea of covenant." It represented the forbearance with which God dealt with man and His offer of a way out. "Paul's approach (to grace) was through the idea of covenant-love, hesed, which has broken down all barriers" (p. 100).

INHERITANCE: is a concept of receiving the blessings from God as within His family and "traces back to God's promise to Abraham in Gen. 12:7" (p. 112).

KINDNESS: "is used once in the sense of a good deed (II Sam. 2:6) and elsewhere (36 times) for the Hebrew hesed, the covenant-word which Cloverdale translated by 'loving-kindness' (p. 119).

LOVING-KINDNESS: "Sir Adam Smith suggested the rendering of 'leal-love.' The merit of this translation is that it combines both the two ideas of love and loyalty, both of which are essential. The theological importance of the word hesed is that it stands more than any other word for the attitude that both parties to a covenant ought to maintain toward each other" (p. 136).

MERCY: "thus signifies that continued forbearance of God by which he 'keepeth covenant' with Israel even when Israelis low to keep His commandments to a degree" (p. 143).

OBEY: from the Hebrew shema meaning to hear and

24



Chapter 1

"to conform in humility to that which God prescribes by way of claim or of promise." It is directly opposite of the conduct of "revolt and rebellion of those who broke the Old Covenant" (p. 160).

PEACE: a very complex concept that involved a covenanted peace with God. "Peace is a normal and proper condition of men in relationship with one another in family first and extended to others by a covenant which determines relationships and is also a 'covenant of peace' (p. 165).

PROMISE: is most frequently related to a covenanted agreement, "e.g., strangers to the covenants of promise" (p. 172).

PEOPLE IN COVENANT TAKE ON A NEW MEANING

And not only words, but people take on a special meaning when the Bible is seen as covenant. For example:

ELECT: those selected to be incorporated into covenant. "God chose Israel from among all the nations of the earth to be His people in the possession of covenant privileges and blessings."1

CHILDREN OF GOD: a very significant idea in both Testaments, came into being by having a covenanted rela-

1John Murray, "Elect" in Baker's Dictionary of Theology, edited by Everett F. Harrison, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1960), 179.

25



Chapter 1

tionship with God. God chose Abraham and Israel as His own special people and made a covenant with them. Their status was a result of their relationship to God, identified and defined by the covenant (Deut. 26:16-19).

GENTILES: those outside covenant were seen as merely "the nations"--not included in covenant with God. (Called by someone "Just a heap of people.")

RELATIONSHIPS IN COVENANT BECOME CLEAR

God's covenant people are seen as very precious. For example, in Ex. 19:5, 6 we see how Israel becomes God's own special possession, simply because she gladly accepted covenant. In Ezek. 16:8 we see that, in that same covenant, Israel became God's bride.

"In responding [to God's call to a covenant], Israel be-comes a covenantal partner. She takes upon herself the responsibility of faithfulness, and in so doing becomes a 'Person'...Without these demands, without this structure for her life, Israel could have no real identity or destiny."1

Israel, had something special. In all of history, only the Jews are said to have a covenant with their God. Leon Morris said,

Every religion has to do with some form of union, fellowship, friendship or relationship

1Elmer Prout, "Covenant Code," Firm Foundation, (June 5, 1979) 96:3.

26



Chapter 1

with the deity. This is not peculiar to the Hebrew religion. What is peculiar to the He-brew religion is that this union, fellowship and partnership with the deity is based on a legal arrangement called a covenant....Covenant is a legal conception....A legal basis is inherent in the very nature of the covenant.1

If a person is precious and special in covenant, what of God's relationship with those outside? What relationship do non-covenant people have with Yahweh? Absolutely none (Ephesians 2:l-10). If that is true, it is vital that we are in covenant. And it is vital that we understand the covenant we are in. We need to learn all we can about this wonderful concept.

Go with us, then, on this study of covenant. You are in for a life-changing experience.

1Leon Morris, 257.

27



Chapter 2

LET'S MAKE A DEAL!

My wife and I married in our teens--I was 19, she was 18. To say the least, we were not geniuses in the world of business. One day a salesman showed up at our door and convinced my wife that she really needed some magazines coming to our house. She signed the contract and then told me the good news after I arrived home.

After a "discussion" (that you could probably hear two blocks away), I convinced her that we didn't need that wonderful offer. We pulled out the contract and really looked at it for the first time. It was a nightmare that bound us to the magazine people for three years at a horrible rate of interest--about three times the bank rate.

Donna and I learned a lot about contracts that week--how easily one gets into them and how difficult it was to get out.

If you are a smart buyer, before you buy a "big ticket item," you do a lot of study. Before signing anything, you want to know the kind of contract you would be signing. Who will finance that car for you? What are the terms of interest? What about the payments? And what collateral will be demanded? A lot of things determine your happiness in the deal. You need to know what you are doing going in.

29



Chapter 2

There is a real need, too, for a Bible student to under-stand the kinds of covenants made in the Bible. Covenant was the way for friends to express their friendship, for enemies to makes friends, for a conqueror to bring a defeated enemy into subjection, and even for a man to take a wife. There were many different agreements made for many different reasons in those days. We would be smart to learn the various kinds.

KINDS OF COVENANTS

Let's review just a moment. Try to recall the types of covenants we find in our Bible study. At its simplest, there are three kinds of covenants made in Bible times:

Self-assumed--This was a covenant of promise called a unilateral covenant. In such, one party imposes obligation on himself. The second party is the recipient of blessings, but has no obligation spelled out. In such a covenant, the inferior recipient of the covenant is "not represented as doing anything in the matter, either by way of seeking a covenant, or of performing covenant obligations."1

Let me give you a simple illustration of a Self-assumed covenant: Let's say that you had money and you wanted to share with those in need. You write to the superintendent of a children's home and you announce to him, "On February 1st, I will deliver a check to you for $50,000." You have bound

1Moms, 71.

30



Chapter 2

yourself in covenant. But what does the orphan's home have to do? Nothing. You asked nothing of them. (God entered into many such covenants; the most important being His covenant with Abraham [Gen. 12-17]).1

Parity treaty--This is a "two-sided covenant between human parties, both of which voluntarily accept the terms of the agreement (for friendship, I Sam. 18:3, 4; marriage, Mal. 2:14; or political alliance, Josh. 9:15). God, however, never enters into such a covenant of equality with men."2

Suzerainty treaty--A "one-sided disposition imposed by a superior party (Ezek. 17:13, 14)."3 A suzerainty treaty was defined in our last lesson as a "bond in blood sovereignly administered." When God enters into a covenant relationship with men, He sovereignly institutes a life and death bond. A covenant is a bond in blood, or a bond of life and death, administered by the suzerain to the inferior.4

1This explains why, when the covenant was being made in Genesis 15, the animals were slain and cut in two, but only a "smoking pot" passed between the pieces. This was God alone binding Himself to Abraham. The patriarch was asked to do nothing except trust God to carry it out. It was a promise and nothing more.
2Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963), 186.
3ibid.
4O. Palmer Robertson, 4.

31



Chapter 2

While some covenants between human parties are like negotiated agreements, God's covenant is more like a suzerainty covenant. It has nothing in it of the nature of a bargain or a negotiated agreement. It is a disposition or arrangement which originates unilaterally with the superior party. The inferior party may accept or reject the arrangement,...but he cannot negotiate or alter the terms of the disposition in any way.1

This covenant...between infinitely unequal parties, assumes the nature of those, which the Greeks called injunctions, or covenants from commands. (Ex. 24:8, Heb. 9:20, 21).2

HOW A COVENANT WAS FORMED

It would make it easy if all covenants followed exactly the same steps when they were made, but that is not true. All kinds of covenants were made in many different ways: people entered into covenants with people; God entered into cove-

1Robert Brinsmead, "The Technical Meaning Of Covenant," 7 (November, 1976):12.
2Herman Witsius, The Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man vol.1 (Williamsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian &amp; Reformed, 1990), 47. Since Witsius first was published in Danish and the first translation was given in English in 1803, I am taking the liberty throughout this study to "translate" some of the extremely difficult wording into our vernacular.

32



Chapter 2

nants with men, and few were ever formed in exactly the same way. But if you study the ancient covenants made by the Hittites and other nations, you will find a basic pattern of covenant-making coming into focus. Many of these very forms are found in the Bible.

Consider carefully these steps of old covenant-making because you will see later that they have a New Testament parallel:

#1: THE PREAMBLE

This first step in covenant-making identifies the author of the treaty and gives his titles and attributes. For example, some king might say to the pauper, "I am king Belsheban, ruler of all the lower lands." Now the poor man probably already knows the king, but it had to be done. It was the first step in covenant-making.

We see even God do this before entering into a covenant with mortals. He "introduces Himself' to the vassal (as though any introduction is needed!), so there will be no doubt about who is making the covenant. Get your Bible and read the following passages. This is why God introduces Himself to Abram, Gen. 15:1, 17:1; to Isaac, Gen. 26:24 and to Jacob, Gen. 28:10ff. He is merely following covenant custom.

#2: THE HISTORIC PROLOGUE

In this next step, all the kind deeds of the great king on behalf of his vassal are recounted. "I have allowed you to run your cattle on my lands for many years." These past deeds

33



Chapter 2

are the ground of the suzerain's appeal to the vassal to render future obedience in gratitude for past benefits. After all, since the king has been so good in the past, it would be to my profit to enter into covenant with him now.

God does this, too, when he enters into covenant with Israel in Ex. 19:4.

You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

#3: THE INVITATION

Now the king wants to know the willingness of the vassal to enter the covenant. Thus he graciously invites the vassal to enter.

God does this at Sinai with the children of Israel, saying in Ex. 19:5. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

#4: THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT

Next comes the stipulations--the working rules of the covenant. "You must pay a dollar per head per year to run your cattle on my land." Here are the things the weaker member of the covenant must do to keep this covenant.

"These refer to the obligations of the weaker

34



Chapter 2

party, or the party of the second part, if equals. These were often stated in detail, with frequent use of moral terms, such as 'to love' and 'to walk before with the whole heart.' Total loyalty was demanded. Usually the vassal was forbid-den to make alliances with anyone else..."1

Such is the case, too, with God giving the terms for Israel's covenant. His "terms" are what we call the "Ten Commandments" (Ex. 20).

#5: THE BLESSINGS AND THE CURSES

Next all the good things are spelled out for the vassal if he keeps covenant. And on the other hand, here are listed the threats of horrible things that will happen if the vassal is unfaithful. The results of the vassal's keeping or not keeping the covenant are made very clear. The vassal is agreeing that if he ever proved to be treasonous he is deserving of the listed discipline.2 Keep the covenant, and here are the blessings; break it and here is what will happen to you.

#6: THE OATH-SWEARING CEREMONY

Also called "covenant ratification," here we have the actual pledge made by the vassal to the lord that he will be

1Mont Smith, 12.
2The most startling example of this is in Deut. 27 where the entire list of "Blessings and Curses" are read to the people in the great "covenant renewal ceremony."

35



Chapter 2

true. This was the part of the ceremony that involved the killing of an animal (or animals) and each party touching blood. As they made contact with blood, the covenant makers affirmed the idea they were one blood and had a shared life. It also indicated the type of punishment fitting for the inferior who broke his oath and betrayed his covenant lord.

Usually, the animals that were killed were split from top to bottom. Sometimes the blood was allowed to fall to the ground; other times it was caught in a basin to be used in the ceremony.1 The animal pieces were then put on each side of a field or plot of land--one side on the right and the other side of the animal on the left forming an isle to walk through.

The Suzerain would read again the terms of the covenant, and the vassal would again voice his willingness to enter.2 At that point, the two would "touch blood" by walking between the pieces together, sometimes standing in the blood to cut themselves3, to hold up their hand and swear loyalty or to eat salt.4 Often the parties walking through the blood

1This is what Moses does with the blood in Ex. 24:
2Ex. 24:7.
3Malcomb Smith, "The Abrahamic Covenant," in audiotape series, Living In Covenant, (Washingtonville, NY: MSM Inc)., MS608.
4Num. 18:19, 2 Chron. 13:5 Why the use of salt? Herman Witsius suggested it was because it "resists putrefaction and corruption, and therefore prolongs the duration of things, and in a manner renders them everlasting."

36



Chapter 2

would walk in a "figure eight" pattern. This figure symbolized "eternity" because it had no end. Such was the way they looked at their covenant.

In the case of Moses and Israel, the covenant was ratified when the blood was sprinkled on the people marching by.

There were exceptions to the covenant-making forms--many exceptions,1 but the form of "cutting the animal" was nearly always present. But then came the next step:

#7: CEREMONIES AFTER RATIFICATION

People did many things to celebrate the ratified covenant. For example:

There was feasting Gen. 26:30, Ex. 24:9-11. Examples of such feasts are obvious in Scripture. When Isaac made a covenant with Abimelech, he made a great feast (Gen. 26:30). Jacob did the same when he made covenant with Laban (Gen. 31:54). When David made a covenant with Abner, they feasted (2 Sam. 3:

Witsius, The Economy of the Covenants, 45.

1Some ratified the covenant by: giving the hand:( Ezra 10:19, Lam. 5:6, Ezek. 17:18), loosing the shoe and giving it (Ruth 4:7), writing and sealing (Neh. 9:38, Jer. 32:10-12), cutting an animal &amp; sacrifice (Gen. 15:9-17, Jer. 34:18) and Oaths (Gen. 21:21-24; Gen. 22:16, 17; Gen. 26:26-31; 1 Sam. 20:42).

37



Chapter 2

20).1 In the example above, (Ex. 24) there was a feast at the ratification of the covenant through Moses. God allowed the people to sit and eat in His presence and did nothing to harm them. Probably they only saw a form of God since no man can see God and live. (Ex. 33:20)

There was the giving of gifts. These tokens were given by the superior (suzerain) to the inferior (vassal) 1 Sam. 18:3-4. You will see this many times in the Bible.
There was the changing of the name. In certain covenants, the inferior took on all or part of the name of the Suzerain. This identified the vassal with the exalted superior. Abram, Sarai, Jacob and others had their names changed. And these changes had a deep meaning behind them. It did much more than just make "Exalted Father" into "Father of a Multitude" as in the case of Abraham. (See chapter 4 for a study on "Name change.")
There were monuments and memorials. In some instances, a stone or other monument was erected as a reminder of when and where a covenant was made. (Gen. 31:44).

#8: STORAGE OF THE COVENANT

1Witsius, 44.

38



Chapter 2

The text of the treaty was most sacred. Even in the case of the pagan covenants, the "oath of the covenant" was sworn before the many gods. To break the pact was an offense to the gods. Because it was so sacred, the actual treaty text was kept in a temple--in the "presence of the gods." Sometimes the text of the treaty was taken to that local temple and stored in a box called the "ark (box) of the covenant" and placed in an alcove they called the "holy place."1 This terminology was used among the pagans as well as God's people when they made covenant through Moses in your Bible.

#9: WITNESSES TO THE COVENANT

In pagan agreements, a list of witnesses, often a long list of respected gods of both parties, was inscribed as part of the treaty. In the early treaties, the vassal's gods were listed in full, but this practice gave way in later centuries.

Honored men, rivers, holy mountains, the sky or other objects of nature were also called upon to be witnesses. You will notice this is what God does. The covenant was witnessed by heaven and earth (Deut. 4:36, 30:19) so when Judah broke it, Micah goes to court with them and calls heaven and earth to witness the breach of God's covenant (Micah 6:l-5).

#10: COVENANT RENEWAL

1Mont Smith, 111.

39



Chapter 2

We will devote an entire lesson to this in chapter ten. Here we will simply say this: many covenants (including the one that God made with Israel) had a ceremony of renewal built into them. Perhaps one broke covenant because of ignorance, because of infidelity or inability. Or perhaps the two parties simply wanted to perpetuate the agreement for another year. In that case, they went through what they called covenant renewal.

In pagan covenants, such a renewal could be made merely by reading the covenant at a stated time each year and vocally agreeing to continue. Or, in the case of Israel, when the worshiper offered a lamb, he was expressing good faith, saying that he wanted to continue with God. This was his covenant renewal ceremony.

#11: THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT

When a suzerainty treaty was made, the superior sometimes gave the inferior a gift--a sign showing that one was tied to the other.1 Then, as long as both were living in good faith in the covenant, they both were bound together,2 and the sign was a reminder.

In a parity Agreement (two equals making covenant)

1David and Jonathan followed this model in 1 Sam. 13:4
2The signs of God's covenant were obvious: With Noah, the rainbow; with Abraham, Circumcision; with Israel, Sabbath keeping.

40



Chapter 2

memorials took the place of gifts. "A sign may have been a pile of rocks, some stone placed upright--anything agreeable to both parties or imposed upon the other by the stronger party."1

THE MAKING OF THE SUPERIOR COVENANT

Now that we have learned the principles above, notice how the New Covenant that Christ made with us follows recognized covenant-making procedures.

For us there is a Preamble/Historic Prologue section. These are found in the Gospel accounts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us of this Savior and what He has done for us from the beginning.

We too have an Invitation section in our New Testament. You will find the Master's invitation throughout the Gospels.2

When you look for the Terms in our Covenant, see the book of Acts. There you will hear the Gospel preached and you will hear the terms of the covenant shared with the people.3

The section of Blessings and Curses will be

1Smith, 122.
2Matt. 11:28; Matt. 28:18, 19; Mrk 16:15, 16 etc.
3Acts 2:38; Acts 3:18; Acts 22:16.

41



Chapter 2

found in the rest of the New Testament letters. There you learn the joy of walking in the light1 and the horror of turning away.2

The Christian's Oath-swearing ceremony--the ratification ceremony is obvious. It is found in baptism.3 It is there we "touch the blood" and join with our Master in covenant.
And God, too, gives each of us a Sign of the covenant. He has given us the precious gift of the Holy spirit.4
Once each Lord's day, Christians enjoy the Covenant Renewal ceremony called The Lord's Supper.

THE CONCLUSIONS WE DRAW

If we understand all of these truths, we begin to see that the basis of our salvation is not just some "feeling in the heart." Rather it is based on a formal, rational agreement, made between ourselves and God.

1John l:6-8.
2Heb. 10:25-28.
3Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:3-5, etc.
4Eph. 1:13; 2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor 5:5.

42



Chapter 2

For example, how do I know I am saved? Is it because I "feel it in my heart?" No. Even though some people want to make that mysterious "feeling" a test of salvation, the Bible nowhere mentions such a thing. After all, "feelings" (in the scriptures) are seen as fickle things at best. You may feel you are saved one moment, and then change your feeling when temptations come. You may feel like you are right, and be completely wrong all along.1

Then how do I know I am saved? Because I am living in good faith in God's gracious covenant as found in the Scriptures. Christianity is not just a "hope so" religion. It is not merely a "feel good" system. The emphasis is on hearing the call, choosing to obey, understanding the terms and deciding to enter covenant.

Yes, there are wonderful feelings that go along with serving Christ, but these feelings are based on following the covenant. Good feelings are never the authority for our lives; they are merely the reflections of good covenant keeping.

So if I am in covenant with God through Christ, what difference does it make? What relationship do I have with God in this covenant? Many wonderful changes take place as a result. I am made new (II Cor. 5:17). I am special (I Pet. 2:9). I am free from condemnation (Col. 1:21, 22).

1Though Saul was living in defiance of Christ (before his conversion), still he could honestly say this to the Jewish council: Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience to this day (Acts 23:1).

43



Chapter 2

And what relationship do I have with God if I am not in covenant with Christ? I have no relationship with Him whatever.1 No man would want to stay on the outside and be cut off from God.. The wise man will choose to enter covenant without delay.

1Matt. 7:22; John 17:9; Lk. 13:27; Matt. 7:22; 23; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 2:14; I Cor. 5:9; Eph. 4:17.

44



Chapter 3

The Threshold Covenant

Someone said that stealing material from one source is "Plagiarism." Stealing from two or more sources is called "Research." Well if that is true, I have done my research. I enjoy reading all I can about "Covenant"-even after all these years. I have been known to steal from just about anyone (legally of course) if it will enrich my study (and yours). I'm like a pack rat. I find and collect everything I can get my hands on that deals with any aspect of covenant making. Some of this reading is of very little value. But sometimes one finds "nuggets of gold" that helps one become even richer in his study.

Recently I discovered one such "nugget" from an old book written by H. Clay Trumbull.1 He was a scholar of the first rank about 100 years ago. Scholars of his time accredited him for rediscovering and preserving the information about this "threshold covenant."

He spends the first 175 pages of his book in a detailed, tedious and (some may say) unnecessary explanation of how the threshold covenant was practiced in ancient times by ancient civilizations all around the world. But the interesting

1H. Clay Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant (Kirkwood: Impact Christian Books, 1899; repr., 2000), 175-240. He has a series of books on "Covenant" just recently reprinted. See Bibliography for details.

45



Chapter 3

part of that book came when he finally got into a study of the threshold covenant in the Bible itself.1

Understand: this is not merely "filler material" to give you something to read. If you get the information in the first of this chapter, you are going to really get excited about the last part. The Bible is going to come alive for you.

First, let us quickly define what we mean by the "threshold covenant."

In ancient times, even before there was a temple, there was a house or dwelling place. The primitive altar of the family was the threshold, or door-sill of that house. It is strange, but true: at the door-sill or the "entranceway" of the house, animals were slaughtered for at least three reasons.

1. For the pagan, it was a place of worship to his gods.
2. It was a place for making friendship covenants.
3. It was a place that marriages were formed.

Let's pause and look at this "friendship covenant for a moment." This is the one we want to know more about right now. We will get to number three in just a moment.

Centuries ago, in the East, when a friend came to visit,

1Unless noted, all conclusions, ideas and quotes are from Trumbull

46



Chapter 3

it was a happy occasion. An animal was slaughtered at the threshold upon the arrival of the friend. In this way the host welcomed and adopted the visitor into his home. This was the owner's way of appealing to his protecting god, asking him to watch out over these people as they enjoy one another's fellowship. It was a form of "covenant" between the host and the visitor.

HOW WAS THIS DONE?

While the guest is still outside, the host takes an animal such as a lamb or a goat, and, tying its feet together, lays it upon the threshold of his door. Resting his left knee upon the bound victim, the host holds its head by his left hand, while with his right he cuts its throat. He retains his position until all the blood has flowed from the body upon the threshold. Then the victim is removed, and the guest steps over the pool of blood, across the threshold, into the home. In this act the guest becomes, as it were, a member of the family because of this threshold covenant.

The flesh of the slaughtered animal is usually given to the neighbors, although in the case of poor people, it is sometimes used for the meal of the guest in whose honor it was sacrificed. Depending on the financial ability of the family offering the sacrifice, it may be a larger offering than a lamb or a goat, or it may be something smaller. The sacrifice may be a bull or a heifer, or simply a bird or some fowl. The more costly the gift, the greater the honor to him who is welcomed.

3. THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.

47



Chapter 3

Even today in portions of Syria, when a bride is brought to her husband's home, a lamb or a goat is sacrificed on the threshold, and she must step across the outpoured blood. This marks her adoption into the family.

Also, among the Arabs on the Sinai Peninsula this rite is still practiced. When the marriage day is fixed, the bridegroom comes with a lamb in his arms to the tent of the father of his bride. Then, before witnesses, he cuts the lambs throat. As soon as the blood falls upon the earth (and the earth is the only threshold of a tent) the marriage ceremony is regarded as complete. The bride sometimes jumps the blood into the tent. In other cultures, she is carried across the blood.

This, by the way, is probably the root of our modem custom. Today the groom still picks up his bride and carries her across the threshold. The earliest references to this custom of the bride's crossing the threshold without stepping on it, is an ancient custom; and there are traces of it from the earliest times until now.'

DOORPOSTS

We have already said that, In these ancient homes, the threshold of the doorway was the primitive altar. Thus above that threshold--the doorway itself served as a framework

1Another related subject of study that we don't have time for here is Trumbull's discussion of the "gates of the city," and the "gate of the house" that has a great deal to do with our understanding of the Bible. See Trumbull page 57ff.

48



Chapter 3

above the altar. To show that a covenant had been made, sometimes certain "tokens" or "inscriptions" were placed on those doorposts and door frames. Read this carefully, because here we receive light on the mysterious actions of the "Passover."

Originally the same blood poured out in sacrifice on the threshold was also used to mark the doorposts and lintel. In the "threshold covenant," the animal would be killed. The blood would pool on the threshold. Then either one or both of the friends making covenant would dip their hands in that blood and place a hand print on these doorposts. This was to show everyone passing by that a covenant had been made between the visitor and the host. (In pagan homes, these hand prints were for the purpose of keeping off the "evil eye" and thus ensuring good luck to the friends or a newly married couple).

What interests us is this: do you remember the first Passover?1 the blood was smeared on the doorposts and lintels of the houses. We never understood why until now, did we? Now we know it was Israel's way of publically making a "Threshold covenant." That blood announced their covenant with their God. All who passed by could know that a welcome guest was either there or coming.

And as we speak of putting things on the doorposts, even today, Jewish homes have little boxes nailed on their doorposts containing the "Shema" of Deuteronomy 6:4. That was nothing new either. It was common among primitive

1Exodus 12.

49



Chapter 3

peoples to inscribe on the doorways, a dedication to their protecting deities. We can understand, then, why the Hebrews were commanded to dedicate their doorways to the one living God. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, God said to his covenant people,

"You shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates."

To this day, among stricter Jews, the covenant words of the "Shema"1 are inscribed on parchment and placed in a cylinder of glass, or in a case of metal or wood. These scriptures are affixed to the side posts of every main door in the house.

This case and the inscription in it are called the "mezuza." On the outside of the written scroll, the divine name "Shaddai,"-"the Almighty" was inscribed. Those words may be seen through the opening in the case or cylinder. This name stands for "the guardian of the dwellings of Israel."

Every pious Jew, as often as he passes that mezuza, touches the divine name with the finger of his right hand, puts it to his mouth and kisses it saying in Hebrew, "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and forevermore." (Psalm 121:8)

1The words are those of Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

50



Chapter 3

When leaving on a business expedition he says after touching it, "In thy name I shall go out and prosper." In some cases the covenant words are inscribed directly upon the doorposts instead of being written on parchment and enclosed in a case.

THE "SACREDNESS" OF THIS THRESHOLD

The threshold, because it was an altar of sorts, was a sacred place. To remove, damage or even to disregard such a local threshold was an offense not only against its owner, but against the god in whose name it had been set up. Thus in Bible times (and in many cultures even today) this threshold was inviolate.

Now get this clearly. It is important: If a thief wanted to get into a home to steal, he would not come in the door -even if he saw it open. He would come in at the window or he would dig in from the rear wall. But strangely, his "reverence" for the threshold would keep him from entering the door. This was because of the superstitious dread of crossing a threshold with evil intent. By crossing that threshold, even a thief believed he was entering into a covenant with the owner of the house to do him good. The thief would be cursed if he stepped across the threshold and then did harm to the home owner..

The very term commonly employed in the New Testament for thieving, indicates the "digging through" a building instead of entering by the door. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on the earth where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through (literally "dig through,"

51



Chapter 3

Greek diorusso) and steal." (Matthew 6:19-20)

Also the literal reading of Luke 12:39 says "If the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have left his house to be digged through."

In ancient times, among the more primitive shepherd people of Palestine, thieves stayed away from the door. Jesus may have referred to that when He said, "he that enters not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber...the thief comes not but that he may steal and kill and destroy." (John 10:1, 10)

The thief never enters the door. He always climbs up some other way.

Trumbull recalls visiting Arabia and journeying through that land. He said that they did not set a guard to watch in front of the tents at the entrance. Instead, the guards took their place at the rear of the tents to watch against thieves. These thieves would crawl underneath the canvas to steal what they could, but would never enter the threshold of the tent.

THE MEANING OF THAT PASSOVER COVENANT

Understanding these things about the "threshold" and the covenant made there, we can understand a lot more clearly what was going on when the Passover lamb was killed.

If all of that we have learned is true, then God's

52



Chapter 3

instruction to the children of Israel in Exodus concerning the "Passover" was nothing really new. What they did was something recognized by the people of the day. In dealing with his chosen people, God did not invent a new rite or ceremony at every stage of His dealing with them; rather he took a rite with which they were already familiar and gave it a new and deeper significance.

So even before the Lord ever instituted that Passover, people were making threshold covenants. Visiting guests were welcomed by a covenant of blood. Blood stains were impressed on the door posts as a sign that a covenant had been made. Brides were welcomed to the grooms home in marriage, by the outpouring of blood on the threshold of the door, and by staining the doorway itself with the blood of the covenant.

It was for that reason, when Jehovah announced to His people that He was to visit Egypt on a chosen night, he called for a threshold covenant. He said that those who welcomed Him should prepare a threshold covenant, or a Passover sacrifice as a proof of that welcome. Where no such welcome was made for Him by a family, He counted the household as an enemy.

When Moses delivered the Lord's message to the Hebrews, he did not speak of this sacrifice as something new-something they did not understand. Rather he simply said to them, "draw out and take ewe lambs according to your

53



Chapter 3

families, and kill the Passover."1 The people knew what was happening when God said it, and. they knew what to do to prepare such a covenant.

A lamb was chosen to be the sacrifice in the welcome to Jehovah. Each household or family was to take one lamb for this offering. No special directions had to be given as to the place or the manner of this sacrifice. It seems to have already been understood by everyone what to do and how to do it. Why? because it was a traditional thing already among the people. They knew very well what to do, and they knew what they were signifying by this sacrifice-that God would be a welcome guest in this home because those families were covered with covenant blood.2

That welcome with blood meant covenant protection from Jehovah as He came into Egypt to pour out judgment on His enemies. The Egyptians had already refused Him, thus they put themselves in open defiance of God's authority. They were going to be visited in judgment.3 In order to distinguish the Lord's people from His enemies, the Hebrews were to prepare this blood welcome at their doorway, and the Lord would honor this welcome by covenanting with those

1The word "Passover" in the Hebrew also can be translated "cross-over" or "pass through."
2Exodus 12:22
3Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-10; 5:l-2; 6:l-7; 10:21-29

54



Chapter 3

who offered it. (Exodus 11:4-7)1

The common understanding of the term "Passover" in connection with the Hebrew exodus from Egypt is that the 'Lord "passed over" those homes where the doorways were blood stained without entering them. Yet the term itself implies that Jehovah did not merely spare His people when he visited judgment on the Egyptians. He covenanted anew with them by "passing over" or "crossing over" the bloodstained threshold into their homes while the messengers of death went into the houses of the Lord's enemies and claimed the firstborn as belonging to Jehovah.

The Hebrew word pesakh translated "Passover" is a strange one. It is derived from the root pasakh meaning to "cross over." Jewish tradition views the term as both a passing over and a passing through. He "passed through" the threshold of the Hebrew homes as His death angel "passed over" on his mission of judgment.

PASSOVER TRADITIONS

1Trumbull argues that the Hebrew word saph in the Exodus 12:23 passage is incorrectly translated as "basin" in our English Bible. It is because of this that the identity of the Passover sacrifice with the primitive threshold covenant is generally lost. Translating the word basin is incorrect. Nine out of ten times it should be translated "threshold" or "door" or "doorpost." He argues that this incorrect translation has been seen many times in the Old Testament. (Jeremiah 52:19) He sites Zechariah 12:1-3 in our English Bible as another illustration of erroneous translating. The KJV translates the phrase, "behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup." Instead, it should read, "behold, I will make Jerusalem a threshold."

55



Chapter 3

Also according to Jewish tradition:

1. It was on a Passover night when Jehovah entered into a cross-over covenant with Abraham on the boundary of his new possession in Canaan. (Genesis 15:l-21)

2. It was supposedly on a Passover night that Lot welcomed the angel visitors to his home in Sodom. (Genesis 19:l-25)

3. The Jews believed It was at the Passover season that the Israelites crossed the threshold of their new homes in Canaan

4. They held that it was at Passover that the walls of Jericho fell down. The blood-colored thread on the house of Rahab was a symbol of the covenant of the Hebrew spies with her and her household. (Joshua 2:l-20; 5:10-12; 6:12-17)

5. The protection of the Israelites against the Midianites (Judges 7:l-25) and the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:20-36) and the Meads and the Persians (Esther 9:12-19) and again the final overthrow of Babylon-all these events were said to have been at the Passover season.

These traditions would seem to show that the Passover covenant was seen as a crossover covenant, and a covenant of welcome at the family and the national threshold.

In the Passover rite even today, modern Jews, at a certain stage of the feast, opens the outer door. An extra cup

56



Chapter 3

and chair are arranged at the table in the hope that God's messenger will cross the threshold, and enter the home as a welcome guest. All this seems to point to the meaning of "pass-through" and not merely of "pass-over" or "pass-by."

NEW TESTAMENT UNDERSTANDING

Understanding these things, it makes us all the richer when we come into the New Testament. There we find that Jesus (the passover lamb) was held back from Jerusalem until the approach of the Passover feast, when He knew that His death was at hand. (Matt. 16:21; 26:17-18)

It is fitting that at His last Passover meal eaten with His disciples, this Passover was made the basis of the new memorial and symbolic covenant meal with His disciples. (Matt. 26:17-30)

The Passover sacrifice is as prominent in the New Testament as it is in the Old. One can almost see the lamb being slain at the front of the house and the blood spilling into the threshold receptacle. When Paul, writing in 1 Corinthians 5:7 said, "Purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our Passover has also been sacrificed, even Christ."

The picture even becomes richer when we learn the following:

In the ancient threshold covenants, the father of the house made his sacrifice as a token of welcome to the guests with whom he would enter into covenant. It was not the

57



Chapter 3

outsider or stranger who offered the threshold sacrifice. It was the house father who extended a welcome by offering a precious sacrifice. The size of the welcome was told by the preciousness of the sacrifice. The richer the offering the heartier the welcome.

Can we not see our Father offering up the finest sacrifice that He had-even His own Son-for those whom He loved? We are truly special and welcome guests. We are adopted into His family by crossing through the blood.

AND ONE OTHER THOUGHT

Among primitive people, as among the Jews, there was no greater indignity than for a covenant to be offered by a host and be refused by a guest. To refuse to enter that covenant was a rude trampling on the blood of the sacrifice. One who refused this covenant-instead of crossing over it reverently and accepting it humbly-was considered an enemy. This makes the reading of Hebrews 10:28-29 especially powerful.

28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Indeed we who have entered into blood covenant with

58



Chapter 3

the king have done what Bruce Ballenger said in his beautiful hymn:

We have come into his house
To Glorify His name
And worship Him.

Worship Him, Christ the Lord.

59



Chapter 4

The Salt Covenant

Years ago, my wife and I enjoyed a great visit to Israel. The itinerary included a visit to the ruins of old Jericho. Under a hot, bright sky we walked among those ruins and enjoyed ourselves immensely. But in a warm, dry climate like that, one can grow very thirsty very quickly. That is what happened to me. After a little time, I began growing thirsty. Then a few minutes later there swept over me a raging thirst. I had to do something quickly.

These were the days before "Perrier" bottled water, so I had to find relief for my thirst somewhere in the neighborhood. I stood high on the mound that once was the city of Jericho, and I looked down a road that led to the new section of town. About a half mile away I saw what I thought was a cafe. At least there were some people standing in the front of a little building, so my wife and I began making our way to that place. We thought that, even if it wasn't a cafe, the Jewish people that were there would perhaps be kind enough to give us a drink.

To our delight, we found that it was indeed a cafe, and to our relief, the owner willingly filled glass after glass for us until our thirst was slaked. I offered to pay him, but he kindly refused. I thanked him many times over, and then turned to go out the door.

Behind me, I heard the man say, "Now you can tell all

61



Chapter 4

your friends that you drank from Elijah's spring."

"I beg your pardon?" I asked the man. He repeated it.

"Are you kidding?" I asked again.

"Not at all," the man replied. "This water came from the very same stream that the Bible said Elijah purified in 2 Kings 2. He poured a bowl of salt into the bitter water, and it became fresh. It has been that way ever since-the freshest water around!"

The man was right. For years now I have been telling that story to my friends, and every time I do, I thrill again at the feeling I had that afternoon. I took picture after picture of that stream that afternoon, and could easily visualize the great prophet as he filled a bowl with salt and poured it in the water. From that day, I remembered Elijah, and have always wondered about salt. That was especially true when I came to study this "salt covenant."

This is the way the Bible tells the story in 2 Kings 2:

19 The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."
20 "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it. " So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the Lord says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'"

62



Chapter 4

22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

Some wit said, "This is where Culligan must have gotten his idea for purifying water." I personally don't understand how Culligan or Elijah purified their water by using salt, but I know they did.

We are not much interested in salt. It is not a big thing with us Americans. Salt is always there in abundance. We Southerners have purchased Morton's salt out of a blue box all of our lives, never thinking much about it. To us modems, salt has always been at hand for us to use or throw away. We even pour bags of it on a ice-covered streets or sidewalks in winter. We put it in blocks out in the fields for our cows to lick. If you bought it by the pound, it wouldn't make a dent in your budget. It is cheap and plentiful in the United States.

Thus we don't think much about the importance of it when we hear about this next covenant. It is called "The Salt Covenant." But don't overlook it. It is a beautiful and special thing.

Did you know that, at various times in history, salt was money? People carried it around and spent it by the pinch when they wanted to buy something. Roman soldiers were, in some places, paid in salt. Their salt mines were called "salariums." When they were paid, they received their "salary." That is where the word came from. This too is where we get the saying, a person is "not worth his salt."

And in places where salt is precious, the "covenant of

63



Chapter 4

salt" is equally precious. Let me tell you about it.

COVENANTS BY MOUTH

From the earliest recorded time, sharing something by mouth has always been a form of covenant making. Trumbull tells us "Even the sharing of water between two persons, or the giving and receiving of a drink of water, is a compact of peace for a short time, as a form of truce between enemies."1 Sharing water formed a short-lived "time out" of hostilities. It didn't last long at all.

Water was a "mini-covenant," and eating bread and meat was even a more powerful covenant of friendship and peace. When the host fed his guest bread or meat, he was pledging that the guest would come to no harm for as long as the guest is in the house. Such a peace lasted long beyond the visit, though it was not everlasting.

Durzee Bey, a native chieftain in Mesopotamia, having put a bit of roast meat into the mouth of Dr. Hamlin as they sat together in his (tent), said, "By that act I have pledged you every drop of my blood, that while you are in my territory no evil shall come to you. For that space of time, we are brothers."2

1H. Clay Trumbull, The Salt Covenant, (Impact Christians Books: Kirkwood, Mo. Reprinted 1999), 21.
2Hamlin, Among the Turks, pg. 175 as quoted by Trumbull, pg22.

64



Chapter 4

SALT COVENANTS

Drinking water formed a short peace agreement. Eating a meal with another, formed a longer bond. But the "covenant of salt" was more. It was permanent and unalterable, making peace and friendship for life between the parties. In the Middle East, people who ate salt together observed that pact religiously.

For example, you may remember the famous book Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The captain of a robber band had visited Ali. His intention was to kill Baba, so he came disguised as a stranger. When invited to eat, he asked that his food be cooked and served with no salt.

Morgiania, a slave girl, wondered at that request. She noted the carefulness of the man, and recognized him as being a murderer. "So ho," she said, "This is the cause why the villain does not eat of salt, because he is seeking an opportunity to slay my master whose mortal enemy he is." It was despicable enough for the killer to eat a meal with Ali Baba and then try to kill him. Yet even the killer would not stoop to eating salt and then murder.

A salt covenant demanded no elaborate ceremony like a blood covenant did. It merely meant eating salt together. One has suggested that you could make a salt covenant by merely reaching into your salt bag (that people wore tied around their waists) and placing a pinch into the salt bag of another. The other participant would take a pinch out of his and place it in yours. The mixing of those salt grains made covenant. Simple, fast and easy. Whether exchanging salt or

65



Chapter 4

sharing it in a meal, the result was a most solemn and binding covenant. As a result, sometimes people would trick other people into such a covenant without their even wanting such.

For example, consider the case of ancient travelers in the Middle East who came into the area of some wild Bedawins. Fearing for their lives, the travelers invited the Bedawins to a meal, secretly fed them salt in their food, then announced what they had done. This secured their safety while visiting in the area, because even the wild tribesmen would not do the visitors harm since they had eaten salt with them.1

A man named John McGregor told of being captured by a sheikh. The sheikh was very unfriendly and threatening toward his captor, so McGregor did the same thing as the visitors among the Bedawins: he ate with the sheikh. During the meal, John opened a box of fine salt and showed it to the sheikh. The chieftain had never seen such fine white salt. Mistaking it for sugar, the ruler tasted a pinch of it. Instantly McGregor put a pinch of it into his own mouth and with a loud laughing shout, he clapped the old sheikh on his back.

When the bystanders and servants asked if it was sugar, the old chieftain answered, "La, meleh!" ("No, it is salt.") The entire tent erupted into laughter. "We had now eaten salt together," wrote McGregor, "and in his own tent. So he was

1James M. Freeman, Manners &amp; Customs of the Bible (Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1972), 86.

66



Chapter 4

bound by the strongest tie, and he knew it."1

THE BIBLE'S USE OF SALT

In the scriptures, we have very little explanation of the salt covenant. God made his promise to David using such a covenant, but we don't know how or where or when it was done. In fact, the only way we would know that is that in 2 Chron. 13:4, Abijah makes a passing remark to Jeroboam:

Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5 Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

But as was said, there is no detailed information about "salt covenants" in the Scriptures. The rite just "shows up" in the Biblical record. It is obviously an accepted thing among the Jews. In fact, we have only two references to such a covenant by name: 2 Chron. 13:4 and Numbers 18:19.

Yet even this little information was enough to surprise and delight me when I discovered it. I say that for two reasons:

First, until I studied this "salt covenant," it had never struck me what kind of covenant God had made with David.

1McGregor, The Rob Roy of the Jordan as quoted in Manners &amp; Customs.

67



Chapter 4

I knew He had formed an everlasting covenant with the King1 but I had never known that it was a salt covenant God made.

Second, though I had studied the Bible all my life, it never got into my "memory banks" that God instructed His priests to include salt in the offerings they gave. He said in Leviticus 2:13

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

After I learned that, however, I began "seeing salt" everywhere. For example, when Ezra was given permission to leave captivity in Persia, he prepared to go home to the ruins of Jerusalem (he was taking people and priests back to rebuild the temple). The king gave the following orders to fill the priest's needs:

Ezra 6:9 Whatever is needed-young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem--must be given them daily without fail,

Did you notice how the priests needed salt?

Ezra 7:21 Now I, King Artaxerxes, order all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates to provide with diligence whatever Ezra the priest, a teacher of the

1See "The Davidic Covenant" elsewhere in this book.

68



Chapter 4

Law of the God of heaven, may ask of you--22 up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit.

The salt of the sacrifices was a huge thing in the Levitical system. Josephus, in his book, Antiquities of the Jews tells of king Antiochus who stopped by Jerusalem once with his army. The Jews welcomed him and showed Antiochus and his soldiers hospitality. In gratitude, he later sent a huge gift to the priests of Jerusalem for their sacrifices: wine, oil, frankincense, 1460 "midimni" of wheat and 375 medimni of salt.1 Antiochus knew how much salt these priests used in sacrifices.

And again in Numbers 18:19, God is telling His priests things they can take for themselves out of the sacrifices. He says to them:

Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring."

The Septuagint version of the Bible has Leviticus 24:7 saying "and you shall put upon the pile (of bread) pure frankincense and salt, they shall be to the bread for a

1Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Trans. William Whiston. Chapter 12:3,iii. (Associated Publishers and Authors Inc.: Grand Rapids: 1968) 252.

69



Chapter 4

memorial lying before the Lord."

THE REASON FOR SALT

How is it that salt became such a popular covenant making ingredient? Since the Bible does not say, whatever we give here can be only conjecture. As best we can tell, salt was used because:

1. SALT SYMBOLIZES LIFE

It would be only a guess to say why salt was so close to blood in covenant making, but it was. Both made lasting covenants, and both were solemn pledges of friendship and peace. The blood covenant may be more solemn and elaborate. It may have produced for the participants almost a standing as an "adopted relative." Yet both covenants were inviolate and strongly binding.

Trumbull points out that blood has salt in it, and pagan civilizations in lands where salt was precious, enjoyed the drinking of animal's blood for its salt qualities. Thus early on, salt was substituted (in some cases) for that blood covenant.

2. SALT SYMBOLIZES PERMANENCE

Salt was valuable for preserving physical things, thus soon salt became a symbol of spiritual things that are to be

70



Chapter 4

preserved.1 Salt was an emblem of an established and enduring covenant. When it is used, such a covenant should never wax old or be destroyed.

Rabbi Joshua Berman writes about this salt covenant by saying:

The torah (Law) mandates that salt be sprinkled on each and every Korban (sacrifice) because it is "the salt of the covenant with God." The implications here bear the same meanings as they do in Numbers 18, and 2 Chronicles 13. In those passages, salt symbolized the everlasting nature of God's pledges respectively to the priests and to the Davidic line. When the Torah mandates that salt be placed on the korbanot (sacrificial alter) to mark the eternal nature of the covenant, it is, first and foremost, a statement about the lasting duration of the covenantal bond.2

Thus salt on the sacrifices was the declaration of Israel to God that they were going to keep covenant forever. But of course they didn't.

1H.D.M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol.2 (Grand Rapids; William B. Eerdmans Publishing: 1962) 25.
2Joshua Berman, Parshat Korach: The Meaning of the Salt Covenant. Web article: www.nishmat.net./Parsha5759/zh-Korach-Berman-5761.htm

71



Chapter 4

3. SALT SYMBOLIZES PURITY

In getting ready for sacrifice, no special ceremony had to be offered to make salt pure. As in the case of Elijah purifying the stream, salt was the agent of purification. Also, salt was to be rubbed on little children when they were born.1 Though this act may be more medicinal than ceremonial, people relied upon salt as part of the purifying process. Because salt retards putrefaction (Matthew 5:13) It symbolized the opposite of that which is stale, rancid or rotting away.

When God instructed the people to make frankincense for worship in His tabernacle, this is what he said in Exodus 30:34:

34Then the Lord said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices-gum resin, onycha and galbanum-and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.

4. SALT SYMBOLIZES FAITHFULNESS

If one entered into covenant with another by eating salt, the expectation on both sides was that they must live true to that covenant.

In the New Testament, Jesus said in Mark 9:50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each

1Ezek. 16:4.

72



Chapter 4

other."

Paul gave these instruction in Colossians 4:6 "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

And so we find that, in the primitive world's thinking, shared salt was precious. It was powerful, too, because of what it represented and what it symbolized, as well as for what it was.

Salt stands for and symbolizes many things-such as purity, holiness, faithfulness, life, and permanence. Let us, then, be the "salt of the earth." Let us sprinkle everything that we do with salt as we offer up our pure and holy sacrifices to the Lord.

Heed what the Lord would tell you: "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

73



Chapter 5

SIGNIFICANT OLD TESTAMENT
COVENANTS

I. COVENANTS WITH ADAM AND NOAH

The Old Testament does not merely tell us of a Covenant God made with the people. It actually describes many covenants that God entered with many people on many different occasions. "No period in the history of redemption from Noah to Christ stands outside the realm of God's covenantal dealings with His people. The successive covenants made with Noah, Abraham, Moses and David span the entirety of the Old Testament period."1

And it may be true to say "from Adam to Christ" instead of "Noah." The word covenant is not used in the Bible until Genesis 6 (in the story of Noah), but there is good evidence to say that God made a covenant with Adam from the very beginning of time. Thus beginning with Adam, we will trace God's covenant-making in all the Old Testament period.

NUMBER 1: GOD'S COVENANT WITH ADAM

1Robertson, 17.

75



Chapter 5

Was the first covenant not made until Noah? Or did God make a covenant with Adam in the beginning? Hear O. Palmer Robertson:

At the outset, it should be acknowledged that the absence of the term covenant before Genesis 6:18 should be given its full weight of significance. For some reason, the formalizing term 'covenant' does not appear in the earlier narratives of Genesis. The biblical exegete should be concerned to determine the reason for this omission.1

Is the term covenant not found in Genesis one because there wasn't a covenant? Or was it just because the author didn't see a need to use the word? There are several reasons why Adam's relationship with God could be considered a Covenant:

SCRIPTURAL PRECEDENCE

First, there is scriptural precedence for making a covenant without referring to it as such. For example, God made a covenant with David, yet nowhere in the original account does the Bible make mention of the word covenant. (2 Sam. 7, 1 Chron. 17).

Then how do we know it was a covenant God made with David? Later scriptures refer to is as such. For example, when David reflected back on it, he called it a covenant. In 2

1Robertson, 18.

76



Chapter 5

Sam. 23:5 David said, "although my, house is not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; will he not make it increase?

God settles the matter, for he too says that it was a covenant. In Ps 89:3 God declares "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn to my servant David: 4 'Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.'

If God could form a covenant with David without ever using the word at the time, He could have done the same with Adam.

BIBLICAL REFERENCES

The second reason we hold that God was in covenant with Adam is this: two passages in Scripture appear to refer to some covenant made at the time of the creation.

Jer. 33:20-26 "Thus says the Lord: 'If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 'then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers....25 "Thus says the Lord: 'If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 'then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

77



Chapter 5

For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.' "

Just when did God make a covenant with the day and night? Did He do it,

1. In the days of Noah? Gen 8:22 "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and Summer, and day and night shall not cease."

2. In the days of creation? Jer. 31:35ff. Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is his name): 36 "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever. " 37 Thus says the Lord: "If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord.1

Note that the references to the sun and moon specifically as light-bearers for day and night are found in the creation narrative, but not in the narrative describing God's covenant with Noah. It seems obvious that God had some kind of covenant with the host of creation on the day God created them.

1Witsius, 42 says that this Covenant is more an immutable ordinance with the stars-- a "Statute...which nothing is to be added to or taken from" and not so much an agreement. He is probably correct.

78



Chapter 5

A REFERENCE FROM HOSEA

The third reason we believe God had a covenant with Adam is a passage from Hosea 6:7. It speaks of God making such a treaty with Adam, but it is a obscure passage which has received its share of controversy. The meaning of this text is determined by the way one translates the word "Adam." Here are the various ways the text is translated:

Like Adam, they have broken the covenant--they were unfaithful to me there. (NIV)

But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me. (NKJV)

But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. (RSV)

So how is this text supposed to read? Is God saying that men transgressed the covenant? (That is the literal translation of the word Adam). If so, men transgressed what covenant? We don't know of any they broke.

Is he saying they transgressed that covenant at the town called Adam in the Bible? (There was such a town mentioned in Joshua 3:16--the town where the waters gathered to allow Israel to cross the Jordan in the invasion of the land). But again we ask, "What covenant at Adam?" There was never a recorded covenant at Adam, much less a transgression of covenant.

79



Chapter 5

We are driven to hold that the passage is speaking of the man by the name of Adam. Brinsmead said "... in our judgment it is the only rendering which does justice to the context and sense of the passage in Hosea. The evidence clearly indicates a covenantal relation between God and Adam."1

FEATURES OF A COVENANT ARE PRESENT

The fourth reason we hold that God made covenant with Adam is because it fits the definition of covenant. A "bond of life and death" is clearly present between God and the newly created man (Gen. 2:15-17). The necessary features of a covenant are all present in Genesis 1 to 3.

1. There were contracting parties: God and Adam.

Adam was the head of the race or its legal representative (see Rom. 5:12-19). His relationship with God was more than a private relationship, because he represented all of mankind in covenant.

The Adamic covenant may be likened to a suzerainty treaty. God was the Great Suzerain, and the terms of the covenant were unilaterally arranged by Him. Adam was but a creature of the dust, but the covenant partnership conferred upon him the dignity and authority of a king. He was given dominion over the whole created

1Robert Brinsmead, "The Names and Features of the Covenants", Present Truth: 5 (December, 1976): 18.

80



Chapter 5

order (Gen. 1:26-28; Heb. 2:6-8). One lone restriction--to refrain from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was to remind Adam that he was a vassal king under the authority of the great Suzerain. Adam could remain a monarch of the earth only as long as he recognized that he was God's creature and subject to divine authority.1

2. There were conditions imposed on Adam. God demanded obedience to His commandments, especially refraining from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If Adam would refrain from eating the forbidden fruit, he would live. But if he would eat 6f the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die.2

3. There were implied promises of God: eternal life and immortality, represented by access to the tree of life.3

4. There was a threat of death in the case of disobedience. When Adam and Eve sinned, a whole series of curses were invoked (see Gen. 3:14-19). The word curse is covenantal language, being associated with the penalty of breaking a covenant. By the fact that there was a curse, there must have been a covenant.

1Brinsmead, 18, 19.
2Robertson, 25.
3Why did not God give Adam some clear promises? Because all that one could ever want, Adam already had in his pristine condition in the Garden.

81



Chapter 5

Besides these four covenant features, we should also point out that the whole Bible record indicates that God has no fellowship with any man outside of a covenant.

"The covenant is always fundamental in any union between God and man. Just as human righteousness demands a marriage contract as the basis of conjugal union, so does divine righteousness demand a covenantal basis for God's union with man."1

NUMBER 2: GOD'S COVENANT WITH NOAH

The first time the word b'rith is used in the Bible is the time when God made an agreement with Noah. The Bible reads:

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord...12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth... 17 And behold, I Myself am bringing flood waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you

1Brinsmead, 19.

82



Chapter 5

shall go into the ark; you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you."
Gen. 6:8-18

Note: the thing which saved Noah and his family from the awful display of divine wrath was this covenant of grace. The man in covenant union with God could never perish.

Actually, there were two covenants involved with Noah. One had reference to Noah and his immediate family (Gen. 6:18), while the other had reference to his family and all of mankind. (Gen. 9:8-12)1

After Noah came out of the ark and stepped onto the new world, he built an altar and offered sacrifices to God (Gen. 8:20), and because of this, the Lord renewed His covenant with Noah. In this covenant, God also promised to preserve the earth from destruction even though man's heart after the Flood was just as evil as before the deluge (cf. Gen. 8:21; 6:5).

Here for the first time, we see one of those agreements called a promissory covenant2 God promises that He will do

1Note that all mankind, just as in the case with Adam, is responsible to God for care of three areas of life: l. Covenanted relationships to God. 2. Care and use of the earth. 3. Care for one's fellow man. This is an obligation upon every soul. All men will give account to God. --Mont Smith, 67.
2There are two kinds of covenants made by a Suzerain: "Obligatory Covenants" (like the ones made with Adam and with Israel), and "Promissory Covenants" (made with Noah, Abraham and David).

83



Chapter 5

certain things based on no conditions. God is taking upon Himself the responsibilities. Although the Noahic covenant did impose certain responsibilities on Noah and his posterity, still the covenant was not conditional. God's promises were good no matter what Noah does.

WHAT WERE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS COVENANT?

1. The command that was first given to Adam, to cultivate the earth, is repeated to Noah (Gen. 9:1-3).

2. There is a prohibition against eating blood (Gen. 9:4). And the sanctity of human life must be recognized and enforced by human justice (Gen. 9:6).

3. God also gave a sign and seal of His promise. He said, "I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth" (Gen. 9:13, RSV).

Because this was a one-sided agreement--with God alone taking responsibility in the form of a promise, that promise goes on and on, never ending. The rainbow in the sky is an ever present reminder that God never moves from a promise. He will one day destroy the world, but never by water again. The final destruction will be by fire (2 Peter 3:1-10).

NUMBER 3: GOD'S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM

84



Chapter 5

We have studied about two important covenants: the Adamic and Noahic covenants. We still have other important covenants to inspect. They are the Abrahamic, the Davidic, and the covenant with Israel on Sinai. Each one of these was made for a specific purpose; each one had its own blessings for the world, and each one holds many important truths for our learning.

Whenever the Jews referred to their history and to God's covenant, they always called attention to Abraham. They never talked much about Adam or Noah or Enoch. They did not recount the flood. For the Hebrew, real history began with Abraham.1

This covenant made a difference with God too. For example,

If you want to know why God promised to forgive the sins of Israel, it was because of Abraham.

I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
(Lev. 26:42)

Do you know why God gave the land of Israel to the Jews? It was because of Abraham:

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself "The Lord

1Mont Smith, 72.

85



Chapter 5

has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness. "No,...it is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deut. 9:4, 5

God never forgot what He had promised to Abraham and his descendants. Thus one of the reasons why God had any dealings with the children of Israel was because He had first made covenant with the patriarch. Though it is said God "remembered His covenant with Abraham" (Ex. 2:24), God never forgot it. God was showing Himself true to Abraham by entering into covenant with his seed.

The Covenant with Abraham is the "Old Testament Biggie." This is a vital covenant that has everything to do with you right now. So let's get the background for this story:

The times were dark; ignorance and idolatry hung like a black curtain over the land. Sin had always seemed to have the upper hand in the world. Once before it had gotten so bad that God had even washed the world with a flood. Yet He promised He would never do that again (Gen. 9:11, 15).

This time, when wickedness and ignorance of God in-creased, God decided to change His tactic. He looked out over the children of men and saw one man who was different

86



Chapter 5

from all the rest. His name was Abraham.

Though Abraham's people were idol worshiper (Joshua 24:2), God saw something special about this man, and so He issued him a call in Gen. 12:1-3.,

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's house-hold and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Just as God had rescued Noah from a doomed world, now He rescued Abraham from an idolatrous environment and separated Abraham for covenant partnership with Himself.

Note the promises God makes to this man:

The promise of offspring
The promise of blessings for Abraham
The promise of a great name
The promise of blessings for those who favor Abraham (and curses upon those who don't.
The promise that Abraham's descendants would occupy the land of Canaan.
The promise of great blessings for the Gentiles
The promise that Jehovah would be the God of those who make up Abraham's offspring.

87



Chapter 5

The promise that kings would be descended from Abraham.

The way God made His covenant with Abram was interesting. Instead of a short, tightly-knit ceremony binding the two parties in a matter of moments, parts of this covenant are scattered over portions often chapters.1 Yet here again we find the component parts of covenant-making in the story of Abraham. We will briefly outline them for you, but take time to read these passages, please, so you can see Abraham entering covenant just like all the other people of his time entered agreements with their peers.

PREAMBLE/HISTORIC PROLOGUE Gen. 15:1, 17:l.

INVITATION Gen. 12:1-5.

RATIFICATION Gen. 15:1-18.

The Abrahamic covenant was formalized by a ceremony which apparently was a well-known ancient custom. Abraham took several sacrificial beasts and birds. He divided the animal sacrifices into pieces and placed them in two rows, forming an aisle. According to the ancient custom of covenant-making, the covenant partners were to walk together down the aisle between the divided sacrifice. As they

1It seems obvious that the actual making of the covenant comes in Gen. 15:18, and that other actions are simply "making operative" a covenant already in force.

88



Chapter 5

did so, they would bind themselves under oath to be true to the terms of the pact. The dismembered animal portrayed the cursed fate which would befall the covenant breaker.1

However, in this case, the partners did not walk together down the bloody aisle. Instead, God alone passes through the pieces. Why? Because Abram was not taking upon himself any obligation. "The patriarch was the recipient of a boon, or a promise, rather than a partner contracting to perform certain duties."2

This is the second instance we have of the promissory covenant otherwise known as a unilateral covenant--meaning a one-sided treaty. Only God is taking the burden of promising and making good here. Abraham is simply to receive.

THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT

Like He does in other covenants, God plays the part of the Suzerain. He gives a sign to Abraham, to be something on Abraham's body.3

1Edwin M. Good, You Shall Be My People (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1959), 111.
2Moms, 72.
3Note that the "sign" is a blatantly male sign. It was in keeping, however, with the established principle of God: male leadership. That principle never changes, either in the Old or the New Testament.

89



Chapter 5

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner --those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.1
Gen. 17:10-14

In Acts 7:8 this sign for Abraham was called "The covenant of circumcision."

THE OATH-SWEARING ACT (Gen. 22:16-18)2

1Sometimes, depending on the type of covenant, names were changed and the inferior took on the name of the Suzerain.
2We have established that this is a Unilateral covenant with no terms spelled out for Abraham. And yet scholars have been perplexed through the years with Gen. 17:10-14 where obvious duties are assigned to Abraham and linked to the covenant. See Thomas E. McComiskey, The Covenants of Promise, A Theology of Old Testament Covenants (Grand

90



Chapter 5

You will note that this oath-swearing comes after the covenant is made in Genesis 15, and after the sign is given in Genesis 17. Long after the covenant is formed, God gives His ad olam to seal the deal.

What caused Him to do it just now? God watches the astounding faith of the patriarch as he climbs Mt. Moriah and binds his own son to kill him. As the dagger is brought down, an angel stops Abraham's hand and then God binds Himself on oath to bless Abraham in the covenant.

When God gives His oath, it is as good as done, no matter what the future holds. Heb. 6:13 says, When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."

THE CHANGING OF THE NAME

Malcomb Smith, in a seminar on covenant, raised this interesting point:

God said to Abram "I am going to change your name." In covenant the name of one party is put into the name of the other. What is God's name? We don't know. It is "Yahweh" as near as we can get. In Exodus 3, (in the Hebrew), we have one name of God. And the central sound of that name (Eloheim)

Rapids: Baker, 1989), 64-65.

91



Chapter 5

is "Hhhhhhh." God says, "Abram, from now on you are my covenant friend. Now your name shall be Abra-hhhham." And he who had been Abram now bears the central sound of the name of God. His wife Sarai--an "Hhhhh" was put on the end of her name and she became Sarahhhh."1

The same name-change is accomplished in the case of Jacob, though the sound is not the same. His name, you will recall, was changed from Jacob to Israel. Why? Because another name for God is Eloheim. Thus Jacob takes on the name of his Master, and is called--Isra (Prince of), El--Eloheim-(God) (Gen. 32:28).

Yet the question still remains in this covenant with Abraham; why do we not see all these covenant-making steps taken in one ceremony? Why were these acts of God dispersed over weeks and months? Robertson may have the answer: "Abraham believes God's word, but needs a strengthened assurance... God has granted magnanimous promises to Abraham. But now the patriarch was aging.2

Because he was alone in the world; because he was growing old, Abraham needed the constant presence and blessings of God before him. Thus it might be that God spoke to him on many occasions throughout his life, slowly making

1Malcomb Smith, in audiotape series, Living in Covenant.
2Robertson, 128.

92



Chapter 5

covenant, to comfort and assure Abraham in his faith.

Had God appeared to Abraham once, it would have been a fading memory for the lonely patriarch in his pagan world. But if this took place over many months, Abraham could know that this was no hallucination--that God was always near.

THE UNFOLDING OF ABRAHAM'S COVENANT

Because this covenant spoke of physical blessings to Abraham as well as future spiritual blessings, Abraham became rich (Gen. 24:1, 2, 35). Isaac was blessed, and be-comes even richer (26:4, 12, 13, 28-29). Later, his son Jacob increased in his goods, and was so blessed even his enemies noticed it (30:27-30).

Follow that history down to Abraham's great grandson, Joseph. The world and the devil tried to throw all they could against this young man, but God was faithful in covenant. Again and again, God worked it out for Joseph's good because God's covenant child cannot be defeated.

Joseph was blessed in everything he touched. Even as a slave in Potiphar's house, the record says, From the time (Potiphar) put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian be-cause of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field (Gen. 39:5).

Even if they took Joseph and threw him into a smelly prison cell, he couldn't be held down.

93



Chapter 5

...while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him, he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to any-thing under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
Gen. 39:20-23

Just being around Joseph, blessings rubbed off. He blessed his master's house as a slave, he blessed his keeper's prison as an inmate, and he blessed his Pharaoh as Prime Minister (Gen. 47:14-20).

Joseph may not have understood everything theologically, but he knew God was in his life working these things out for good. He forgave the treachery of his brothers saying,

Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Gen. 50:19

THE SAME FAITH AS ABRAHAM

Down through the centuries, the blessings were poured out on Abraham's seed, until finally God completed His promise with the coming of Christ. Please read Gal. 3:6 and following here to see how we are blessed today in Abraham's cove-

94



Chapter 5

nant.

Those of us who are in covenant; those who have the same faith to trust and hold on to God's promises--God is blessing us because of His promise made long ago to Abraham. Once we were without hope, but we were brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:8-11).

Today, we who are in Christ are the spiritual Israel (Gal. 6:16; Rom. 11:26). It is we who are said to be the off-spring of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). We are heirs of the promise (Rom. 4:16).

And like Abraham and his descendants, we are designed to be the recipients of blessings.1 We were meant to be a blessing to others.2

Someone may ask, "Do you mean I'm going to get rich and everybody I touch is going to be rich too?" Yes, if you understand the principle of covenant.3 I know this sounds like a television preacher raising money, but hear me out. What you are about to read is totally true!

God is working in covenant relation with you so that you can be His light to brighten this present darkness, you can be the salt to cure its rottenness, and so you can be the love

1Gal. 3:14, Eph. l:3-5, I Pet. 3:9.
2I Pet. 3:8, 9
3Col. 3:1; Matt. 6:19; II Cor. 9:6-10.

95



Chapter 5

that heals its loneliness (John 13:34). You are His man or woman for this world in the present situation.

He has promised to supply, as you promise to give. He will help you as you are helping and serving His creatures. (2 Cor. 9) He can make all grace abound toward you so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may abound unto every good work.

Now don't use that promise to try and manipulate God. Don't think, "I will give ten dollars, God will give me back a hundred, so my bank account will grow." If you think that way, you just lost ten dollars. It won't work.

But use the Biblical promise--go out doing good in this world. Then trust God to supply as you give it away. Give it away to help others, and He will replenish your supply. He won't fail you if He can trust you in covenant. You will have plenty, so you can do more on the next occasion.

After you have walked through this world, you should have left a sweet aroma behind--a blessing for having been here. And you will have blessed others because you carried out your mission.

A few years ago, the great black gospel preacher, Marshall Keeble passed away after many years of preaching the Good News to the lost. When he died, this song (whose author is unknown to this writer) was sung at his funeral. It was said to be Keeble's favorite hymn. He used to say these words formed his motto. They should be ours too, if we are in covenant with God.

96



Chapter 5

If I can help somebody as I move along
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song
If I can tell some traveler that he's traveling wrong
Then my living shall not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a true Christian ought,
If I can bring some beauty to a world that's fraught
If I can spread love's message as the message he taught
Then my living shall not be in vain.

Sad to say, some people bless the world only by leaving it. II Chron. 21:20 says Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away to no one's regret. I would rather be a blessing to this world by having lived in it, than having left it, wouldn't you? Covenant children bless instead of bother. They are sorely missed when they are gone.

Thank God; some people bless this world by walking through it and leaving the aroma of Christ in every place. His covenant people must be that kind of people.

97



Chapter 6

SIGNIFICANT OLD TESTAMENT
COVENANTS
(CONTINUED)
NUMBER 4: THE COVENANT AT SINAI

Some have called the covenant with Israel on Sinai "the most important Old Testament Covenant." It might be argued that Abraham's was more important for its own purposes, yet this covenant was the covenant inside the covenant given to bless Israel, keep her bloodline pure and to authorize her to deal with God.

Of the 286 times covenant is mentioned in the Old Testament, at least 150 of these refer to the Sinaitic covenant. "Sinai was the high point of Old Testament history, and the covenant which was made there so dominates the Old Testament record that the collection of thirty-nine books has been named after this covenant."1 It is such an intimate thing in the mind of God, that it is later seen as a marriage covenant between a husband and wife.

THE FEATURES OF THIS COVENANT

One doesn't have to look as hard for the ceremony in this covenant as we did in the covenant with Abraham. The

1Brinsmead, No. 7, 21.

99



Chapter 6

whole event unfolds before our eyes in a matter of five chapters. Here are the proceedings:

PREAMBLE/HISTORIC PROLOGUE

Ex. 19:1-4 In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. '

INVITATION

Ex. 19:5, 6 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine.

The Hebrew word treasured possession (or peculiar Treasure in the KJV) is a beautiful word. It is Cegullah meaning to shut up or hide wealth. Thus it came to mean what one person called "pocket change."

If you make your money and spend it to pay bills, there is always a little something special you put back just for your-self. This "pocket change" is very special to us all. This is what God means here. "I own everything in the whole world," He is saying, "but you will be My special pocket

100



Chapter 6

change--My treasured, special possession."

TERMS OF THE COVENANT Ex. 20-the "Ten Commandments."

Note the people's promise to keep the covenant. Three times they cry out "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do" (Ex. 19:8, 24:3, 7). We have never heard anyone verbally agreeing to do what God says before--not in any of the earlier covenants. That's because the other agreements were unilateral (only God bound Himself); this covenant is bilateral--He is binding the people. These people have to know that they have a burden of responsibility.

Yet, this too is a covenant of grace. God in His kindness stooped to make covenant with Israel, not based on their qualifications, but based on the fact that God loved them (Deut. 7:7, 8; 10:15).

RATIFICATION OF THE COVENANT Ex. 24.

All major treaties were sworn with an alah, an oath of covenant. As with Abraham's covenant, so with this pact, the people signed the treaty with an act which would be forever etched upon their minds.

They assembled. If usual custom was followed, they came tribe by tribe and clan by clan. Clans were subdivided into "houses" or extended-family groups. At last came isolated individuals of small nuclear family groups. Moses had already prepared the site. The clans were gathered, and all was ready.

101



Chapter 6

Moses killed the animals. The blood was drawn off into basins. The carcasses were laid back to back with enough space between them to allow the clans to pass. They numbered some 600,000 in all. They were to pass, clan by clan, through the pieces as God had at Abraham's ceremony.

The Book of the Covenant was read. All the people responded with loud voice: We will do everything the Lord has said. We will obey....(Ex 24:7).

The blood was separated into two lots. One half of it was poured upon the altar. God was signing the treaty! The other half was mixed with water--to extend it hundreds of times. Moses had cut a stout stick of wood and had securely fastened a bundle of wool to it. This he dipped into the tubs of bloody water. He shouted the formal words of covenant oath: This is the blood of the covenant (Ex. 24:8).

The people passed in order and were sprinkled with bloody water as Moses threw it at them. When blood touched them, they had formally signed the pact. They had chosen to be sons of God and members of His kingdom! No covenant of status was ratified without a kind of blood ceremony. The details of each oath taking may have been slightly adjusted to the situation, but all Hebrews understood that without blood a covenant was not ratified (Heb. 9:18ff.).1

THE SIGN OF THIS COVENANT

1Mont Smith, 85.

102



Chapter 6

Ex. 31:13-17 Say to the Israelites, "You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people."

STORAGE OF THE COVENANT

Ex. 35:1-3, Deut 31:24-26. After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.

THE COVENANT MEAL

Ex. 24:9-11 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

PROVISIONS FOR GENTILES?

For the first time, we see a bloodline set aside to be kept pure. Strict barriers were set up to protect the pure line, Israel, from that "heap of people" outside of covenant called

103



Chapter 6

the nations. Yet, God did not forsake all the rest. Hear Everett Ferguson:

Gentiles were not bound by the Law of Moses, which was given to the covenant people alone. However, provision was made for Gentiles to come into the covenant and assume the yoke of the Torah.

The rest of humankind lived under the commandments given to Noah, which the Rabbis attempted to systematize. Righteous Gentiles, who lived according to these commandments could still have a share in the world to come. This was considered the minimum requirements for Godfearers (Acts 15:19-20, 28, 29).

Rabbi Johanan listed seven 'Noachic commandments': seven laws that are binding on the descendants of Noah: (1) establishment of courts of justice; (2) prohibition of blasphemy; (3) prohibition of the worship of other gods, (4) of murder, (5) of incest and adultery, (6) of theft and robbery, and (7) of eating the flesh of a living animal before it dies (b Sanhedrin 56a).1

Gentiles may have had provisions made for them, but Israel was special. From that point on, God referred to Himself as married to Israel. (Is. 54:5; Jer. 3:1-20; Ezek. 16--the entire chapter). However, the marriage was not a good

1Everett Ferguson, Background of Early Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1990), 436.

104



Chapter 6

one because Israel was not long faithful to this covenant. She would break it again and again.

A majority of the messages of the major and minor prophets were appeals for God's people to return to the covenant, thus the need for constant covenant renewal and later an entirely new covenant. (Both principles to be studied later).

NUMBER 5: THE DAVIDIC COVENANT

For our background, we turn again (by kind permission) to Mont Smith as he describes the times and the political situation of David:

"David's rule was successful. The kingdom extended to embrace all the lands promised to Abraham. David established justice and held the law of God in greatest honor. He had the support of all factions in the land: the priest with their power bloc; the army, commanded by old comrades in arms; the tribal elders who needed peace and a time of rebuilding; the common people who lived without fear of raiding Philistines. He captured the fortress city in Judah called Jerusalem, and made it the capital of the united kingdom. To Jerusalem, he returned the Ark of God, dancing in the streets before it to the hill Zion. He began plans to build the temple. He instituted the Torah as the law of the land with central

105



Chapter 6

enforcement.

The promises made to Abraham had all come to pass, except one. They were a great nation. Isaac had his twelve peoples; they were indeed dwelling in the land flowing with milk and honey. Their King was an experienced warrior, a very sensitive musician, a good administrator, and best of all, he was loyal to (Jehovah) and loved the Torah."1

This was the time David began thinking. He wanted to do something good for God. He proposes (thinking out loud) to the Prophet Nathan that a temple should be built for the Lord. Nathan is all excited and bids him go on with his plan with the blessings of God. (Nathan thinks he is going to get a new "church building" out of all this.)

But that night God comes to Nathan and corrects his enthusiastic outburst. He kindly refuses David's offer and instead sends a message to the king. Instead of David building the Lord a house, God is going to build David a house. David wanted to build God a temple. God promises that He will build David a dynasty.

The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,

1Mont Smith, 119.

106



Chapter 6

who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Sam. 7:12, 13

STRANGE THINGS ABOUT THE PROMISE

At first, this sounds like a strange promise for two reasons:

First, it is strange because it is obvious; God is saying that the throne of David was going to last forever. But, how could God "establish the throne of his kingdom forever" if David's kingdom was going to fall sometime in the near future? (Lamentations 5:16-18) Many prophets said that it would fall to the Babylonians. So how could the throne be "forever" if the kingdom was going to one day lie in shambles?

You will note that later prophets, though they knew that Israel would soon fall, kept speaking of this eternal throne of David.

Jeremiah, for example, spent 90% of his book announcing that the end of Judah was at hand. Yet he said this in Jeremiah 33:17

For this is what the Lord says: 'David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

107



Chapter 6

The kingdom would fall but the throne would go on? How could that be? The answer lay in the coming of the "promised one." The prophets knew that David's kingdom would fall, but they spoke often of the fact that, someday, someone would come and "restore the fallen tent of David." (Amos 9:11, 15:16) Those prophets (though they did not understand all the ramifications) looked forward to "someone" we call "Christ." That new King would one day restore David's throne and sit on it forever.

There is also a second strange thing about this covenant with David. This is a "covenant"? It may have taken place some other time we know nothing of, but in the Bible, there was no record of how this covenant was formalized or ratified between David and Jehovah. Strangely, this agreement was said to have been made by a "covenant of salt" (and what that means you can discover when we discuss the "salt covenant" elsewhere.) Yet we don't see any dead animals or anyone wading in blood. In fact, as we said, the word covenant is not even used in 2 Samuel 7. We have to read further in our Bibles to learn that elsewhere, it is called a covenant and an oath.

In 2 Sam. 23:5, for example, we read David saying, "Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?"

Ps. 89:2, 3, 28, 29 I will declare that your love stands

108



Chapter 6

firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant...28 I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. 29 I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure."

There it is again; the promise that this is a covenant, and it would last forever. Did you notice it? God says this line of David would go on and on for "as long as the heavens endure" (v. 29). Later, God says David's throne is to last as long as the sun and the moon (36-37). But considering that the kingdom of Israel was going to fall in a matter of a couple of hundred years, again we ask: how could that be?

When God makes an "everlasting" promise that is not fulfilled on earth, the good Bible student will look for another fulfillment-usually a heavenly fulfillment (Heb. 11:13-16). That is the answer to the "David dilemma." In a moment, we will see how the kingdom could fall forever on earth, but God could still keep his promise. It is a delightful study.

WHAT KIND OF COVENANT WAS IT?

Like the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant with David was unilateral- a one-sided promise. God made a promise to David and confirmed it by an oath. We read of no promises made by the human party. In David, the promise to the

109



Chapter 6

patriarchs is fulfilled, and renewed.1

Although the covenant was promissory, it did not work automatically without any human responsibility. The king who sat on David's throne was obligated to obey the commandments of God (I Chron. 28:7, II Chron. 7:17, 18). "Failure to do this would mean disqualification from the blessings of the covenant. This actually took place in the overthrow of Judah and the royal line in the Babylonian captivity. Yet even when the Jews were cast off into exile, the covenant with David gave them hope that a son would yet sit on David's throne, for even the children's apostasy could not prevent the fulfillment of the covenant (Ps. 89)."2 They didn't consider the promise to be heavenly. They looked for a physical restoration of David's throne.

Go back just a moment and look again at the promise of God in 2 Samuel. There God speaks of David's descendant or offspring who would be blessed also. Who was this descendant? Was he speaking of Solomon or of Christ? In prophetic understanding, the answer could very easily be "Yes" to both questions. The next verses which speak of David's offspring being punished when he sinned would obviously be referring to his fleshly line; but verse 13 is prophesying of Christ.

1J. Barton Payne, "Covenant", Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney, (Grand Rapids: Baker), 186.
2Brinsmead, 8. See Ps. 89:34, 2 Sam. 7:13, 14, Ps. 110:1, 2.

110



Chapter 6

Like God's covenant with Abraham, the Davidic covenant reached beyond the immediate seed (Isaac or Solomon) and the immediate temporal blessings (Canaan or the throne in Jerusalem) to the real seed of Abraham and David. That seed was Christ.

But how do we know the promise was made of Christ and not Solomon? By studying other passages, the truth becomes clear. In Ps. 110:1 we read, The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." 2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

Centuries later, this event occurred in the life of Jesus.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" "The son of David, " they replied. 43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 44 "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' 45 If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?" 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Matt. 22:41-46

This king would sit at God's right hand and be a Priest

111



Chapter 6

forever after the order of Melchisedek (Ps. 110). He would have universal dominion; all nations would be brought into subjection to Him (Ps. 2). Even the Jews understood that the Davidic covenant was Messianic. And the later prophets amplified this hope of Israel's coming King (Isa. 9:6; Zech. 9:10; Dan. 7:14; Ezek. 37:24, 25; Micah 5:2).

All the prophets who spoke of the Davidic covenant declared that David's throne was to be eternal, unchangeable and unending. But there are two problems with all this: (l) the kings who reigned after David were (some of them) poor rulers and even wicked in their life styles. Then (2) these same prophets who spoke of David's throne being eternal also spoke of the demise and doom of the kingdom of Israel. So what was to happen when a throne is to be eternal, but not the kingdom?

As we said, the answer to both problems is found in Christ. The prophets began speaking of a "son of David"-a "righteous branch" off of David's family tree, or a "shoot" off Jesses' stump1 who would come to reign forever on that throne.

Isaiah, for example, spoke of this person as a child to be born-a son given-whose new government would have no end (Is. 9:7)

Amos saw the restoration of David's dynasty coming

1Jesse was David's father, thus the illusion is to the same blood line.

112



Chapter 6

which would result in God's people "never again to be uprooted" (Amos 9:11-15).

This new ruler would come from Bethlehem, and his "goings forth are from old, from everlasting." (KJV of Micah 5:2)

Plus, the new king would be so much like David that Ezekiel calls him "David." (Ezek. 37:24) Zechariah calls this man "my servant, the Branch." (Zech. 3:8) And again in chapter 6:12 and 13, Zechariah calls him "king" and "priest."

So this "someone" was coming to "restore David's fallen tent." God says through Amos, "I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be."1

So the kingdom would topple, but God, through the Messiah, would restore that throne. So did God fulfill that promise? Did he keep a descendant of David on the throne forever? Of course He did. It is how He did it that was amazing.

CONIAH, THE GREAT BIBLICAL PROBLEM

Before we go on in our study about David, let me intro-duce you to a sticky problem. It is found way back in the prophecy of Jeremiah 22. Read this carefully because some of it is difficult. If you don't understand it, that's alright; but if you catch it, it is exciting!

1Amos 9:11

113



Chapter 6

First the background: after king David ruled in Judah, there were very few men who ever came along half as good. Many times when wicked descendants of David came to the throne, God considered just doing away with the house of David altogether. But remembering His promise, God allowed that line to go on. And things got worse.

Finally, the patience of God was exhausted. One too many wicked kings had pulled Judah down, and God had suffered enough of their rebellion.

Finally a man named Jehoiakin (or Jeconiah as he was called) came to the throne at the tender age of 18 (II Kings 24:8) and he too began to show his wickedness. God had suffered enough!

Jeremiah, the prophet, issued a word to evil king Jehoiakin in Jer. 22:24-30. It is not a pretty message. It is an announcement that the kingdom and the king will go into captivity. Then in verse 30, God says,

This is what the Lord says: "Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah."

Note what God said to the king: none of the king's offspring would prosper sitting on the throne of David or "ruling anymore in Judah." That meant that he would not have a successor on David's earthly throne; that Jehoiakin

114



Chapter 6

would be the last man to occupy the fleshly throne of David in Jerusalem.

In punishment for his sin, God handed Jehoiakin over to the Babylonians and he was carried off as a prisoner of war. And after Jehoiakin was imprisoned in Babylon, Ezekiel, the prophet (who also was a prisoner there), confirmed what Jeremiah said. (Ezekiel 21:25-27) When Jehoiakin died, David's earthly throne became extinct--blotted out forever. The "tent" had fallen. Or did it?

That might not sound interesting to you, but wait! Read Matthew 1:11. In the middle of the bloodline of Jesus, you read these words:

...And Josiah (became) the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel...

You guessed it; there is the name of that king "Jeconiah" right in the blood line of Jesus, the "Son of David."

Wait a minute! The prophet had prophesied that no one from Jeconiah's descendants would reign in Judah again. And yet, Jesus descended from him. Wasn't Jesus appointed by God to take over David's throne? What is wrong here?

Nothing is wrong other than our understanding of where the new king was to reign on "David's throne."

115



Chapter 6

Those who teach that Jesus is going to return one day to set up His 1000 year reign in Jerusalem have a real problem with this passage. They want to teach that Jesus will sit on David's throne in Jerusalem, (located in Judah) and yet the prophet said that was impossible. No descendant of Jehoiakin would ever sit there. If Jesus is indeed a descendant of Jehoiakin, then he can never reign in Judah again.

But when we see that the "throne of David" is now a spiritual realm where our King reigns over the spiritual house of Israel (Christians), then we have no problem at all. (See Romans 2:29; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11). None of Jehoiakin's descendants ever did reign (or ever will reign) in Judah. Jesus is not going to return to set up David's throne in Jerusalem. He is reigning on the throne of David now, but in heaven.

Therefore we know that the doctrine that teaches Jesus will one day return to set up His kingdom upon earth, is a false doctrine. The reign of David, however, goes on as long as Jesus is reigning--and that will be forever. God kept His Word. He always does!

116



Chapter 7

THE GREATEST COVENANT OF ALL

Each time God entered into covenant with His children, it was a covenant built upon an earlier covenant. Even the first great covenant in the Bible may have been made with Noah (Gen. 6, 9) because God already had a covenant with the earth (Hosea 2:18, Jer. 33:20, 25) and with Adam (Hos. 6:7). Each covenant made was formed looking to the great and final covenant: the covenant of Christ.

Paul, in Rom. 3:21, says that the method of salvation revealed in the gospel had been already revealed in the law and the prophets; and his definite object, in Gal. iii:13-28 is to prove that the covenant under which we live and according to the terms of which we are to be saved, is the identical covenant made with Abraham....It has always had the same promise, the same Redeemer, and the same condition of membership, namely faith in the Son of God as the Savior of the world.'

To show how these covenants intertwined, hear the remarkable statement of Ezekiel. In one passage, he alludes, not only to three covenants of the Old Testament, but to the

1Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1952), 354.

117



Chapter 7

new covenant to come. He says,

My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. (The Davidic covenant) They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. (Mosaic Covenant) 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, (Abrahamic Covenant) the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant (New Covenant).
Ezek. 37:24-26

Some writers hold that there are not a number of covenants, but one only. They teach that all of the covenants went into making up the one "everlasting covenant" of peace.

I personally see these covenants as being built upon another-even relying on each other, but I cannot agree that there is only one Covenant. It seems too obvious that the Bible sees many "covenants"' Paul discusses the two covenants in Galatians 4:24 and the Scriptures make too much to do about a "New covenant" in Christ as opposed to the "Old Covenant" of Moses to hold that view.'

1Romans 9:4, Eph. 2:12
2Read Paul's comparison of the two covenants in 2 Cor. 3. The Old is always inferior, the New is always superior. But they are never regarded as one Covenant. For the opposite side of this argument read Stanley Paher's book, The Eternal Covenant.

118



Chapter 7

CONFUSION OVER THE COVENANTS

Because some people are ignorant of the concept of covenants, they are not clear as to the covenant they are living under now. They see themselves living under the law of Moses and the law of Christ at the same time. "All you have to do," they say, "is to keep the 10 commandments and you will be saved." Most people who say such things have never read the 10 commandments, they don't follow them or even know what they are, but the philosophy is deeply ingrained in their consciences. This is what they have been taught.

They have made a sort of "Mulligan stew" out of the covenants, picking very little out of the unilateral covenants, but much out of the bilateral covenant on Sinai for us to keep today.

Confused religious people go back to the Old Testament trying to justify many things they do in their churches. Instrumental music, incense, robes (vestures), are all used in modem worship on the basis that "King David did it," or "They did it in the Old Testament times".

Others have made doctrine out of their error. Seventh Day Adventists go all over the world telling people it was a mistake to declare the Old Law dead and abrogated. They argue that the "Ceremonial Law" of sacrifices was done away, but not the "Moral Law." As they put it, "The Ten Commandments are not the law of Moses; they are the law of

119



Chapter 7

the Lord."1 "The law of Moses was done away, but never the law of the Lord (which includes the Sabbath)."

This is simply a convenient (though confusing) way of disagreeing with the Bible truth: Christ took the Old Law out of the way and nailed it to His cross (Col. 2:14) and thus we are no longer obliged to observe the Sabbath (Col. 2:16). There was no such thing in the Bible as a "Moral law" as opposed to a "Ceremonial law." The terms "law of Moses" (Ezra 7:6), "law of the Lord," (2 Chron. 31:3) are even used interchangeably (Luke 2:22, 23). They refer to the same thing--the Old Law.

Even some main-stream denominations are confused about God's old covenants. One of the doctrines of the "Fundamentalist Movement" is seen in the preaching of Jerry Falwell of Lynchburg, West Virginia. He claims that God has not fulfilled His covenant with the Jews. This view holds that the Jews still stand in a very special light with God. "God is good to all who are good to the Jews," says Falwell, "He is a friend to all who are friends with His Old Testament people."

WASN'T IT FOREVER?

Their argument follows one basic track: "God said that he would keep His covenant forever, so these things must be valid today."

Everlasting or perpetual covenant is a term applied to

1G.V. Caskey, A Reply to an Adventist (Irving, Tx: World Missions Press, N.D.), 5.

120



Chapter 7

all Biblical treaties. Each covenant God enters is called an everlasting or perpetual covenant--whether with Noah (Gen. 9:16), with Abraham (Gen. 17:7, 13), with Israel (Ex. 31:16), with David (I Chron. 16:17), with mankind in general (Isa. 24:5), the renewed covenant after the Exile (Isa. 55:3, 61:8; Jer. 32:40; 50:5; Ezek. 16:60; 37:26), or the covenant of the New Testament (Heb. 13:20). This concept of one everlasting covenant is comparable with that of one everlasting gospel. (Rev. 14:6).

But when that term "forever" or "everlasting" is used, we need to consider the wording very carefully. "The Hebrew words 'ad olam,' means forever,' 'in perpetuity' when in the context of treaty. That is to say, in the Bible a promise is associated with a covenant and lasts as long as the treaty lasts."1 Depending on the type of covenant, "forever" can mean "unbroken duration within a fixed span of time," or "limitless duration."

Here is a good rule of thumb:

When God enters into "suzerainty covenants" (where the keeping is dependant upon both parties being faithful), God, says to the Jews, "I will be forever faithful as long as we are in this covenant together."
When God makes a "Unilateral covenant" (a covenant of promise) with someone, then the term "forever" has no limits. Why? Because

1Mont Smith, 20.

121



Chapter 7

God is the one making the promises, and He is unchanging and forever true.

So the Psalmist can say:

5...He remembers his covenant forever. 6 He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. 8 They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever-- holy and awesome is his name.
(Psalm 111:5-9)

Many things were said to be "forever" in the Old Testament; some were "never ending" and others simply "conditional."

Canaan is said to be "forever" (Gen. 17:8)
David's throne (II Samuel 7:13)
Circumcision is said to be "forever." (Gen. 17:13)
The Sabbath Day (Ex. 31:16)
The Passover (Ex. 12:14)
The house of Eli (I Sam. 2:30)
The Vestments of Aaron (Ex. 28:43)

122



Chapter 7

Even the Scapegoat ceremony (Lev. 16:20-34).1

A COVENANT WITH WHOM?

But when well-meaning people refer back to the Old Covenant of Moses to justify what they do in our age, they show that they don't know about the covenants of God. There are some vital truths about that old covenant that we must learn:

For example, we must answer this question: "With whom was the Old Covenant on Sinai made?" On the plains of Moab, Moses answers that question. In Deut. 5, he holds the "Covenant renewal ceremony". There he begins the service with these important words:

Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
Deut. 5:1-3

1Ponder this truth carefully: when God used the term forever in a Unilateral covenant, there is no end to such a promise because no one will ever break covenant. When the word is used in a Bilateral covenant, it means God will do it as long as the two parties are in covenant. That could imply that the "land promise" made to Abraham is still honored by God today. Granted, no one can prove by blood who are Jews at all, but still the concept of forever persists.

123



Chapter 7

In Oklahoma City, somewhere in the Bureau of Records, there is a marriage license with two names on it: mine and my wife's. Now the question is: what does that have to do with you or your mate? Absolutely nothing. I did not enter into covenant with your mate, nor did you enter into a covenant with my wife. Our covenant has nothing to do with you.

How then, can we be so confused to say of that old covenant with Israel, "All you need to do is to keep the 10 Commandments to please God today"? God didn't make that agreement with you. How dare you impose yourself into that covenant! Moses said it was not made with you--only the Jews standing there that day. And later he will say that it will automatically include every other Jew to be born during the term of that covenant (Deut. 29:14), but he never made it with you.

But if you want more proof that you are not to live under the old covenant, then consider: God nullified that covenant in divorce because of the infidelity of Israel (Isaiah 50:1).

Do you need still more testimony? Consider that God annulled the covenant by death. (Romans 7:1-4 Col. 2:13, 14).

Thus putting these truths together, we learn:

The Law of Moses was never made with you.

It was dissolved by divorce

124



Chapter 7

It was done away by death.

If it is beginning to sound like that covenant of Moses doesn't have authority in your life today, then you are catching on.

WAS THERE A MISTAKE SOMEWHERE?

The student might answer at this point, "Then, did God make a mistake by establishing the old covenant in the first place only to take it away?" Certainly not.

Do you remember the voyager space craft? It was sent out into space in 1979, and died in 1992. It only lasted 13 years--not even as long as some of us keep a much cheaper car. But scientists didn't consider that. They built it to perform one mission. Instead, it performed scores before it died. It did precisely what they intended, and they honored its passing.

The Law is the same. God designed it to do two things: keep people in line with God and bring men to Christ. (Gal. 3:24). It did its job; and it did it well. It was never meant to last beyond the coming of Christ.

God instituted the Law with a "death date" built into it. Even in the days of the prophets, they were already talking about this change in covenants. As early as 625 B.C. God was telling us about a new kingdom and a new covenant that He was going to establish. Jer. 31:31-34 told of a new and better covenant established on better promises.

125



Chapter 7

THE NEW AND BETTER COVENANT

Centuries later, in the New Testament, the Hebrew writer quoted Jeremiah's words to show us clear truth about the "new covenant." He tells us that the new covenant of Christ is a better covenant established on better promises (Hebrews 8:8-12). This passage shows us clearly that the new covenant was going to be superior in four different ways:

FIRST: THE NEW COVENANT WOULD BE A HEART-WRITTEN COVENANT.

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
Heb. 8:10

The old covenant was written on stone (Ex. 24:3-8), and these stones were stored away in a box. A copy was laid up beside the box (called "the ark"), then brought out and read once each year (Deut. 31:24-26). The people had a yearly reminder of God's Word, but it did not live in the minds of the people, much less their hearts.1

The new covenant, however, would be written on the intellect and the will of men. 1 John 5:10 says, Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.

1It should be noted, however, that God wanted even the Old Covenant to be in people's hearts (Deut. 6:6). Because they did not receive the Law into their hearts, God longed for a new system-whereby the law of Christ would be in people's hearts or else they would never be born again.

126



Chapter 7

When they ratified the old covenant, they sprinkled the book with blood (Ex. 24). When the new covenant was ratified, our hearts were sprinkled by Christ's blood (Hebrews 10:22). That is why Peter says this in I Pet. 1:2 (you) have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

People in the new covenant belong to the Lord, not because they have a Bible in their hands but because they have a covenant written on their hearts.

SECOND, THE NEW COVENANT WOULD OFFER A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Heb. 8:10

This is what God always wanted: a special priesthood made up of all His people (Ex. 19:5, 6). When Israel sinned at the waters of Meribah (Ex. 17:1-7)), they proved themselves unworthy to serve as priests. Only one tribe showed themselves faithful (Deut. 33:8-10). Thus God chose that one tribe-the faithful tribe of Levi-as His only priests of the Old Covenant.

Yet, God looked forward to the time when the priest-hood would be expanded to all. (Is. 61:6) He looked forward to a new time when he could have a new people who really belonged to Him (I Peter 2:9, Titus 2:14). Remember, He offered that to Israel in the Sinai covenant but they forfeited

127



Chapter 7

it by infidelity. Israel had refused to walk with God for long (see Ezekiel 16:13-19 and the book of Hosea). God knew that old Israel would never be priests, but He wanted a priesthood of believers. So He looked to the future-to us.

THIRD, THIS NEW COVENANT WOULD DEMAND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Heb. 8:11

God wanted to be sure that these new priests knew Him personally. Thus Jeremiah made the strange prophecy about not saying to a neighbor, "Know the Lord...." What is God saying here? Is He telling us not to do evangelism any more? Is He saying not to tell a sinner to "know the Lord"? No, a sinner is not even in the picture; rather He is talking about a "neighbor"--another child of God.

You see, one of the huge drawbacks of the Old Law was that a person could be born into the covenant as a Jew. He would be a member of the covenant the moment he was circumcised on the eighth day of his life. But he might never know the God of that covenant. Let me illustrate.

Let's take the case of the little child born in the hill country of Ephraim. This baby was born a Jew, circumcised a Jew, and was included in covenant as a Jew without the child even knowing it. After all, what does a baby know?

128



Chapter 7

That child may grow up in his mountain home never hearing about Jehovah, the God of the covenant. Some Jews actually did that--they grew up totally ignorant of the very God they were supposed to serve (Judges 2:10).

Therefore, the prophets of old had a big job on their hands. Some of them were traveling preachers. A prophet would travel to some little village in the hill country. He would gather a crowd of people and begin teaching a "seminar" on God. He had to teach these Jews who God was and what He expected from them. After all, they didn't have a Bible, and they didn't know the Lord nor the terms of the covenant.

But in the new covenant, all of that would be unnecessary. No man can enter into it without first knowing the Lord. He enters on the basis of knowing the Lord, thus no one has to tell him to know God; he would already know Him. One cannot just be born into the covenant today; he must be "born again" into it. And that is based on knowledge. Thus I don't have to tell you "know the Lord," for all Covenant members would know him, from the least to the greatest.

FOURTH, THE NEW COVENANT WOULD OFFER COMPLETE FORGIVENESS OF SINS For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
Heb. 8:11

Let us not be confused; there was forgiveness under the old Law. When I was a young man, I was taught that there wasn't any. I was told that there was no forgiveness of

129



Chapter 7

sins in the Old Testament. The preacher said that the sins of the Old Testament people were "rolled forward" when they sacrificed at the temple. I could just see this huge lump of sin being rolled like a ugly, dirty snowball-growing larger and larger on the horizon.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the following two things:

The idea of "rolling sins forward" was not even found in the Bible. It is never mentioned. I wondered where my preacher got such a doctrine.
The principle of "forgiveness" is taught all through the Old Testament-from beginning to end.

Let me give you just a few illustrations.

Ps. 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Ps. 103:3 (God) forgives all your iniquities.

Ps. 130:4 But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

Go to the great "Day of Atonement" in Leviticus 16. There you will find the priest going through elaborate ceremonies to "cover, condone" the sins of the people. They

130



Chapter 7

did all these ceremonies to be forgiven of sins.

"But." someone asks, "how can there be forgiveness under the Old Law? Jesus hadn't even died yet!" Were all these people merely pushing sins forward, and stuffing them into a closet until Jesus could come and pay for them? I think not. As I said, as a youth, I was taught that the sins of the Jews were simply "rolled forward" until last year's sins and this year's sins met up next year. I thought that, for the Jew the horizon was choked with filthy, black sin that was never forgiven until Jesus could come. I learned better. My preacher was just wrong. He meant well, but he was wrong.

"Oh, but that is Bible!" someone insists. Really? It would be good for us to look at the "evidence" of such a doctrine. Let's look at Hebrews from which that mistaken idea springs:

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Heb. 10:1-4

This text is not teaching that sins weren't forgiven. It merely says that the same sacrifices had to be repeated

131



Chapter 7

endlessly. Why? Was it because God didn't forgive sin? No. Because the Jews sinned endlessly, and bull's blood did not have a "perpetual factor"--always flowing to wash the sinner clean. Sins could be forgiven for that Jew, but when he sinned again, he was tainted again, until he sacrificed again. If he sinned once, then he was "re-infected" with that filth until he could go and sacrifice again.

Second, it teaches us that animal blood was merely ceremonial; there was no efficacy in those sacrifices. It could clean the body and make one ceremonially acceptable before God, but it couldn't purify the heart. It wasn't the blood of those animals that purchased forgiveness.

However, the passage does not say that sins were not forgiven. You don't read that in the text. It simply says they weren't forgiven by those inferior sacrifices. The animals were not sufficient for full and final forgiveness. Forgiveness had to be given on the basis of Christ's blood-blood promised before the foundation of the world.

"But if animals' blood couldn't forgive sin, then they weren't forgiven, right?" Wrong!

Yes, it is a poor illustration, but let me liken it to the use of a credit card by a teen-ager.

The boy needs a suit, so his Dad goes with him to the Mall. They shop around and finds the suit the young man wants. The Father then gives his card to the clerk. The salesman swipes the card through the machine and out comes a receipt. Dad signs his name, makes his purchase, and they

132



Chapter 7

take the new suit home.

Now does that suit really belong to the boy? Yes, for he is given permission to say so. It is "his" on credit. He can go to worship the next Sunday and say to a friend, "How do you like my new suit?" The boy gets the use of, and pride in owning that suit.

But what has really happened? Did that credit card pay for it? No, the suit store took a voucher knowing they would get their money from MasterCard. And MasterCard assumed that Dad, in good faith, would pay for that suit within 30 days (hopefully). Mom and Dad will soon have to pay, but the son gets to enjoy a new suit without thinking too much about the responsibility of it.

And so it was with forgiveness under the law. The Jew came before God with a lamb. He is going to sacrifice an animal. And, in doing so, he is promised "forgiveness."

God accepts the animal's sacrifice. We know the animal blood couldn't pay for that man's sins. That blood was merely a "voucher" for later payment. The debt would be redeemed in the coming of Christ. God told the worshiper, "I will forgive your sins" when He saw the blood of the animal. But the animal didn't pay for it. It merely served as the credit card that got the forgiveness. The bill would be paid later by Jesus.

Listen to the good words of Walter C. Kaiser:

The (Old Testament) sinner did receive

133



Chapter 7

complete relief. His sins were forgiven on the basis of the word of a faithful God and the God-approved substitute....And he did get relief from the penalty and memory of his sins....Nevertheless, man's sin was not objectively cared for as yet. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away or remove sin, and neither did the Old Testament claim it did (Heb. 10:4)! These were substitute animals, not people; hence, they could only be symbols of that real sacrifice yet to come. Thus in the meantime there was a "passing by" (Rom. 3:25) of the sins of the Old Testament on the basis of God's declared Word until He would later provide His own final substitute who was a true man, yet one who had not sinned.1

Because Christ came to pay a debt he didn't owe, we are freed from a debt we couldn't pay. Now, in the new covenant, forgiveness has come. Now we can praise God and say as did Paul: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. " Rom. 4:7, 8

Yes, that new covenant is far superior to the Old. And because it is superior, God's love can flow to us personally through his Holy Spirit whom He has given us. (Acts 5:32). We can be His priests and delight in constant forgiveness.

1Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Toward An Old Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 118.

134



Chapter 8

SUPERIOR COVENANT LIVING

When a person entered into covenant with God, he was never again the same. From that time on, one had a special status because of his covenant. No longer was he a "nobody" with no value to anyone. He had been singled out by the Suzerain, and wherever he went-whatever he did, he held a special relationship with that Master. God considered His covenant child as the "apple of His eye" (Deut. 32:10, Ps. 17:8).

Old Testament--New Testament--it didn't make any difference. Covenant people were special people.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priest-hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
I Pet. 2:9, 10.

That relationship is so special that it is called being "born again." The Jews also used that term in referring to their proselytes. They said of their converts, "One who has

135



Chapter 8

become a proselyte is like one newly born."1 When a man became a Christian, Paul said of him, "he is a new creature, the old things have passed away; behold new things have come" (II Corinthians 5:17).

Thus, as the Christian walks away from that covenant ceremony--newly washed in the blood, he needs to know that he is living by an entirely new standard. No longer can he do things "because everybody else is doing them." He has been made special; he must walk that way.

Early Christians understood this truth and gladly accepted the "higher calling" of God. They were known for their unique life styles.

To illustrate, consider this report written in A.D. 125. A Christian from Athens named Aristides wrote an "Apology" (an explanation of the Christian way) answering the emperor, Hadrian. He wrote:

For they (the Christians) know and trust in God, the Creator of heaven and of earth, in whom and from whom are all things, to whom there is no other god as companion, from whom they received commandments which they engraved upon their minds and observe in hope and expectation of the world which is to come.

1Richard R. DeRidder, Disciplining the Nations (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1971), 93.

136



Chapter 8

Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs.

They honor father and mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not do to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies. And their women are pure and virgins and do not offer their wombs; and their men exercise self-control from every unlawful union and especially from impurity; and their wives similarly exercise self-control, for they cling to a great hope of the world to come.

.. They do not worship strange gods. They are gentle, moderate, modest, and truthful. They love one another They observe carefully the precepts of God and live holily and justly as the Lord their God commanded them. They give thanks to him every morning and every hour for food and drink and other good things. If any righteous man among them dies, they rejoice and offer thanks and pray concerning him; and they escort his body as if he were setting out on a journey...But if any one should die in his sins, they

137



Chapter 8

weep, since he goes to punishment.1

But what of us? What difference did it make when we entered our covenant with God? We "got baptized." That is about all some people know. Thus they figure that they ought to "go to church" when they can. They should try to live a good life. They should pray some.

But is that what God wanted when he called us into Covenant? No, it is much more than that. Let us look at God's higher expectations.

WE ARE SEEN IN A COVENANT LIGHT.

We saw it earlier: under the Mosaic covenant, God saw His people as special. Remember, he said in Ex. 19:5, 6

"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. " These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.

That is what God wanted of Israel. He wanted them to walk and talk and act special--because that is what they were. Those in the old covenant were so special, sometimes God gave them new names. Abram and Sarai were re-named (Gen. 17:5). Also Jacob was re-named to be Israel-the prince

1Everett Ferguson, Early Christians Speak (Abilene: ACU Press, 1987), 194.

138



Chapter 8

of God (Gen. 35:10). Isaiah even foretold a great re-naming in Is. 56:5...to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters,. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.1

And it is important to note that God's special people had special privileges.

The concept of a covenant fellowship with God gave the men of the Old Testament a mighty anchor to their faith. We may even say that it put them on vantage ground with God. God was obligated to them by the covenant (such is the love and condescension of God). He was their God. They were his people. He was bound to be loyal and merciful to his people. This is why we see examples of remarkable boldness to claim God's blessings. It was the covenant background which enabled Jacob to say to the Angel, "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me." [Gen. 32:22-32] Outside of the covenant relationship this demand would have been presumption.2

In Christ's new and better covenant, the situation is the same. We sit in a privileged position of honor with God be-cause we have entered covenant with Him.

1John 17:11, 12 may imply Jesus was given his name by covenant with God at the foundation of the world.
2Brinsmead, 22.

139



Chapter 8

I Pet. 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priest-hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Rev. 1:5 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

God established a priesthood that included every believer, not just a "tribe" or some precious few out of the multitudes. He wanted us all in the Priesthood.

And, like the old, the new covenant offers a new name in which each of us can glory. It was given (perhaps in derision) first in Acts 11:26 the disciples were called Christian first in Antioch. Christians began taking a pride and glory in that new name. 1 Pet. 4:16 however, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

WE ENJOY A NEW FAMILY

We are called by a new name because we are now part of God's family, and are referred to as Children of God.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...

Rom. 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs--

140



Chapter 8

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

WE ARE PART OF THE NEW ISRAEL.

Phil. 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh--

Rom. 2:28, 29 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 2:29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

Rom. 9:6, 7 It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."

OUTSIDE THE COVENANT THERE IS NO LIGHT

141



Chapter 8

Outside the covenant, there is no expectation or light. God expects nothing of an outsider, for he has not submitted to the covenant.

For example, the Apostle Paul didn't expect anything from non-Christians. In 1 Cor. 5:11-13 he warned his brethren how to walk, then added, "I wasn't talking about the outsider. What do I have to do with those who are outside?" And the obvious answer is "nothing."

It is plain that Gentiles had no law. They were left on their own to do as well as they could. Rom. 2:14 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law...

Here is how the inspired record sees us before we became Christians: Eph. 2:12 Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

One outside of Christ is not recognized. Christ uses the covenant word in Matt. 7:21. It is the word know--I do not know you--meaning we are not in covenant together.1 God has always dealt with people only through covenant (Matthew 7:21 ff.). Outside of Christ, you have no saving covenant--no relationship.

Even Jesus did not recognize the outsider in His prayer

1Walter C. Kaiser, 117.

142



Chapter 8

to His father. In John 17:9 Jesus has been praying for his disciples. He says, I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. And why not pray for the world? Because the people of the world do not belong to God. They serve Satan.

I Cor. 6:9-13 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The non-Christian was not in the scope of the Master's prayer in John 17. But such wicked people--no matter what their sin---can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus when they come into Covenant. For you see, in Christ, things change.

Col. 2:10-12 And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Eph. 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

143



Chapter 8

It is because we are in Christ, raised with Christ, living for Christ that we make a difference in this world.

WE ARE SUMMONED TO COVENANT RESPONSIBILITY

Read Ephesians 4:17 through the end of the chapter. Note that Paul is teaching these "newborns" that they are now in covenant, they must begin at that point cleaning up their lifestyles. "No more excuses!" he says. "Do away with lying, cheating, stealing, cursing, and generally living wrong."

I have to live higher; I am in the covenant. I have more responsibility; I carry a cross. I have to be faithful; I am a priest. I have to walk straight; I walk in the light.

How silly to look at people in the darkness with longing, wishing we could be like them. How absurd to do something because "everybody else is doing it." If the truth were known, they would like to be like us. They are crying in the darkness for something, saying Who will show us any good? (Ps. 4:6). They seek what we have. They admire us from afar saying with Balaam, Let me die the death of the righteous...Num. 23:10.

Here stands the covenant of Christ--the superior covenant established by Jesus Christ Himself on better promises. Here is the line of demarcation between the fleshly world and the spiritual, between life and death. If we choose the covenant, we must live by the standards of the covenant.

144



Chapter 9

GOD'S MOTIVES IN COVENANT MAKING

God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. He owns the world and the "cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). So why would Jehovah agree--yes, even want--to enter into covenant with us? What does He get out of it?

It can't be wealth. He owns it all. It can't be glory. It all goes to Him anyway. His covenants with us have always been trouble and sorrow for Him. So why does He do it?

About two hundred years ago, the Theologian, Witsius wrote

God, by this covenant, acquires no new right over man...the principal foundation of it being the sovereign majesty of God. Because God is the blessed and self-sufficient Being, therefore he is the only potentate (all powerful ruler)...Nor can God's power and right over the creatures, be diminished or increased by anything extrinsic to God...God, in this covenant, shows what right he has over man.1

If God owns it all, if He has it all and is self-sufficient

1Witsius, The Economy of The Covenants Between God and Man, 48.

145



Chapter 9

and sovereign, what does He want with you? Note the following truths carefully, for they tell us great things about our great God.

GOD'S LONGING FOR FELLOWSHIP

God always wanted fellowship--to be our God, and for us to be His people. John said that "God is love" (1 John. 4:8), and being love, He desired someone upon which to pour that love.

Thus, you may have noticed in the Bible the many times God says He wants the people to be His own people, and He wants to be their God.

The following space will be nothing but scripture. Please take the time to at least scan it, and look for this one truth: God wants your fellowship.

HE MADE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM FOR THAT VERY PURPOSE.

Gen. 17:7 I will establish my covenant as an ever-lasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

HIS COVENANT WITH MOSES USED THIS TERM REPEATEDLY:

Ex. 6:5-7 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have re-

146



Chapter 9

membered my covenant. 6 Therefore, say to the Israelites: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."

Ex. 19:4, 5 You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine

Lev. 11:45 I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

Deut. 29:12, 13 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

GOD ALWAYS WANTED THESE COVENANT PEOPLE TO BE HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE.

Ex. 19:4, 5 They were to be His special treasure among all the people.

Zech. 2:11 anticipates the day in which "many nations"

147



Chapter 9

would be in fellowship with God. In that day, the Lord says, "Many nations will be joined with the Lord...and will be-come my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you."

Zech 8:8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God."

SCRIPTURES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY THE SAME:

Heb. 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

2 Cor. 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

God has always wanted to dwell with His people. He has wanted that beautiful relationship that could only be achieved by covenant.

The reality of God's residing among his people displays an ever-increasing significance

148



Chapter 9

throughout Scripture. It moves from the figure of the tabernacle to the figure of the temple to the figure of the city of God. It involves the incarnate Christ, the church of Christ, and the final glorification of God's people. In each case, God's dwelling among his people is related directly to the heart of the covenant concept: 'I shall be your God and you shall be my people.1

We have made the point clear that God wants fellowship. But there is more. The Bible speaks of God wanting to do more than be in covenant with them. It speaks of Him dwelling among His own. Again, please consider the scriptures:

Ex. 25:8 "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them."

Ex. 29:45, 46 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Lev. 26:11-13 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

1Robertson, Christ Of The Covenants, 49.

149



Chapter 9

Ezek. 37:26-28 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.

GOD WANTED TO ACHIEVE THIS IN THE NEW COVENANT THROUGH CHRIST.

This concept of "dwelling with His people" was achieved when God came to abide with us in a single person, Jesus (Phil. 2:5-7). The desire to "dwell with His people" was so great that when the Messiah came, He was wearing a special name, as though God was sending His message. Jesus was called, Immanuel (Matthew 1:23) meaning, God with us.

The good news from John was that the Word (the cause, the reason behind it all) took on flesh and dwelled in our midst. (John 1:14). That is why the excited people declared after seeing a miracle, "God has truly visited His, people!" (Luke 7:16).

When our loving Savior made covenant with us, the Bible says that we were added to the saved body of people (called the church, Acts 2:41, 47)--a place where Christ dwells with His beloved people. (Eph. 2:210.

1 Cor. 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

150



Chapter 9

1 Cor. 3:17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

1 Cor. 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

1 Cor. 8:10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?

2 Cor. 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

Finally, then, God has been able to achieve that fellow-ship; He can finally pour out His love on blood washed people. How truly special we are! God walks among us!

151



Chapter 10

I SWEAR TO GOD

Recently there was a comedian on television who told about a treaty our government signed with the Indians about 125 years ago. It read, "This treaty shall be in effect as long as the sun rises; as long as the rivers flow; as long as wind blows and the rains fall-- or 90 days, whichever comes first."

That stings because it is true. We weren't the most honest people in our covenant making in the past. We are just now beginning to admit it.

Historians tell us that the Indians did not understand treachery in treaty-making. They had never dealt with another Indian who said one thing and did another. Thus Indians were bewildered when they first met the betrayal of lying treaty makers from the U.S. Government.

Perhaps it can be said to the honor of Christianity, that one of the few treaties ever made with the Indians that was kept was made by William Penn of the "Quaker" community. He made a treaty with the Indians based on trust and honor. It was said to be the only treaty "never sworn to, and never broken." In and around Philadelphia (their "city of brotherly love" as the name implies), the Indians were treated with Christian principles of love and goodness, and the Indians reacted in kind.1

153



Chapter 10

People say one thing and do another. They are supposed to be true to their word, but sometimes they aren't. Richard Booker described the ideal concept of making covenant with God:

A blood covenant between two parties is the closest, the most enduring, the most solemn and the most sacred of all contracts. It absolutely cannot be broken. When you enter into blood covenant with someone, you promise to give them your life, your love and your protection forever until death.2

Treachery in covenant-making is a horrible and ugly thing. Yet men have done it ever since Eden. God knew that His creatures were not long faithful to their word (Deut. 31:20). And knowing this, God included into His covenants three things that would tend to deter infidelity: cutting the animal, oath swearing and the section of blessings and curses.

I. CUTTING THE ANIMAL

We have already learned that cutting the animal and "touching blood" probably symbolized many things. Most of

1Steve Fox, Good Morning, America! March, 1989 TV program.
2Richard Booker, God's Blood Covenant (Atlanta: Cross Roads Books, 1979), 27.

154



Chapter 10

all, this cutting of the animal is a veiled threat in case the covenant is broken. God says in Jer. 34:18, And the men who transgressed my Covenant...I will make like the calf which they cut in two.1

Anticipating the evil in the hearts of men, God was saying "this is what I can do to you if you renege on your promise." Of course the threat is for both covenant partners, but there is absolutely no chance of God being unfaithful, thus such an oath holds no threat to Him.

II.OATH SWEARING

This oath-taking called ad olam was the most sacred of promises. It is fascinating to see some of the old Babylonian covenants and to hear their oaths. In one particular one, we can hear the inferior named Mati'-ilu say to the suzerain, "This head is not the head of the goat...it is the head of Mati'-ilu....If Mati'-ilu breaks this oath, as the head of this goat is cut off...so shall the head of Mati'-ilu be cut off."2

Though such an oath is sometimes taken without the ceremony of covenant,3 oaths were a part of covenant-making. Sometimes there is the raising of the hand when such pledges

1Delbert Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea, (Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1970), 37.
2Morris, Apostolic Preaching Of The Cross, 29.
3Gen. 24:9, Gen. 25:33, Gen. 26:3, 31.

155



Chapter 10

are given.1 This is the reason we still "raise the right hand" when we testify in court today.

III. CURSES ON THE UNFAITHFUL

Covenants made between men had all kinds of hideous warnings in the "Blessings and Curses" sections of their agreements. God does the same. Twelve times in the one chapter of Deuteronomy 27, God warns the unfaithful that he will be cursed and doomed if he proves faithless. It was merely a precaution given by a God who knows the evil hearts of men. It is a fearful thing to promise God something and not live true to the oath.

PRECAUTIONS DON'T CHANGE HEARTS

"Surely," we say, "a person wouldn't make a covenant with God almighty, then be untrue to that covenant!" Oh yes he would! Israel did it, time and time again.

In the days of Jeremiah, the faithless people half-heartedly asked forgiveness for their treason. God answered:

Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.
Jer. 5:7

1Isa. 62:8, Num. 14:30, Neh. 9:15.

156



Chapter 10

After they were carried away into Babylonian captivity, Daniel confessed,

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.
Daniel 9:11

Not only were they untrue to the promises made to God, they were treacherous to one another in their social relationships.

In business

Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5 saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"-- skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest
Amos 8:4

In their pledges of marriage.

Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, "Why?" It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife

157



Chapter 10

of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
Mal. 2:13, 14

But if I lie to you, how can I assure you next time that I will be true to my word? Next time I have to do something more impressive to make you think this time I really will be true. First I "promise." I lie, so the next time I "cross my heart and hope to die." I lie again, so then I have to "swear on a stack of Bibles." Still I don't keep my promise so...well, you catch on.

People who have little integrity, have to find another way of making promises. The Jews devised a method of impressing one another with grand-sounding "oaths."

In the time of Jesus, the Scriptures taught that men should tell the truth; but men lied. Thus they built an elaborate system of oath-taking or "swearing" to make their promises sound binding. Yet liars learned how, even in oath-taking, to evade the truth. Thus their "swearing" had even become an art of evasion.

One of the customs of false oath-taking was what might be called evasive swearing. The Jews divided oaths into two classes, those which were absolutely binding and those which were not. Any oath which contained the name of God was absolutely binding; any oath which succeeded in evading the name of God was held not to be binding. William Barclay said:

158



Chapter 10

"The result was that if a man swore by the name of God in any form, he would rigidly keep that oath; but if he swore by heaven, or by earth, or by Jerusalem, or by his head, he felt quite free to break that oath. The result was that evasion had been brought to a fine art."1

OATH BREAKERS TODAY

We should never believe, however, that lying to God and treachery in covenant is a past problem practiced only by the Jews. Some of God's people today still make their oath to God, and proceed to break it at will.

1. WE ARE UNTRUE WHEN WE LEAVE BEHIND THE WORSHIP

In Hebrews 10:25 and following, we are warned not to "leave behind (forsake) our meeting together." We are told why it is important to stay in worship:

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you

1William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1958), 157.

159



Chapter 10

think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Heb. 10:26-29

Why the raging anger? Why the severe punishment? Because God has placed this person in covenant relationship with Him. The person, in becoming a Christian, went through the ad olam when that man or woman was baptized. Now no claims of ignorance will excuse us. If the Christian turns away from his covenant and is untrue, he has nothing in front of him but the raging fire. It is true what the next verse says: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:30, 31).

A few months ago, a young couple began worshiping with the congregation where I preach. I visited in their home and set up a Bible study. With great anticipation, they studied and sought the truth. As soon as they knew the gospel, they wanted to be baptized.

They obeyed their Lord on a Tuesday evening, so we looked forward to introducing them to the brethren on Sunday. But something happened, and they couldn't make it to Sunday worship; nor did they make it the next week or the next. Even though our studies continued for a while, they never made an effort again to worship the Lord. Amazing! I warned them that they had "sworn to God," but it made no difference. These people make the old adage true: they "knew only enough to get themselves into trouble." They lied to God

160



Chapter 10

and will, sadly, pay the consequences.

2. WE SHOW TREACHERY WHEN WE ARE UNTRUE TO OUR CALLING

What about the person who goes back to live in sin after entering into covenant? Peter says:

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
2 Pet. 2:2 L22

"Fallen away..." that is the Bible word for it, and it has a terrible sound! And yet the Hebrew writer used it in He-brews 6:6 to describe certain ones who had been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and had been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. And after they had tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, they fell away. The Hebrew writer added sadly it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the son of God and put him to an open shame.

Julian, the apostate, is an outstanding example of one who crucified the son of God afresh. Ten years before he was crowned emperor of Rome, Julian had been baptized into Christ and had gladly and openly accepted the way of the cross.

161



Chapter 10

Immediately after his coronation, however, he declared that he was going to restore the "old pagan religions." He not only turned away from Christ, but he did it vehemently. In order to deny his once claimed faith, he tried to purge himself from his old baptism. And to deny his Christian baptism, he had himself immersed in bull's blood. Since he had once held the cup of the Lord's supper, he tried to cleanse his hands by holding in them the entrails of the victims offered to his heathen gods.

He departed farther and farther from the doctrines of Christ, even writing at length against the Christian religion. He grew so hardened that no one could ever speak to him about his soul, and he was never recovered.

On the battlefield, when he was mortally wounded, he lay on the ground in his own blood. He picked up a handful of sand mixed with blood and threw it into the air, exclaiming, "Oh Galilean, you have won."

You can be sure Jesus didn't think he had won with Julian. The moment Julian turned away, Jesus lost. There was no rejoicing in heaven when Julian's soul departed for eternity.

So let us ask: how long will you serve the Lord? You swore your allegiance to God the day you were saved in the watery grave of Baptism. In your work, in your home, in your relationships with God and man, let us remember, we "swore to God." We must be true!

Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?

162



Chapter 10

Who may live on your holy hill?
2 He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
3 and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellow man,
4 who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
5 who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
Ps. 15

163



Chapter 11

COVENANT RENEWAL

Sam Jones, one of the famous denominational revival preachers of the 20th century, used to conduct what he called, "Quittin' Meetings" during his revivals. They were so called because he gave people the opportunity to confess their sins and repent. Many quit swearing, drinking, smoking, gossiping,...etc. He asked one woman what she planned to quit and she replied, "I ain't been doing nothing, and I am goin' to quit that too."

It is good that we can stop for awhile in our lives and rededicate ourselves to God. In covenants, too, God knows our frame; he knows we are but dust and that our mistakes are many. Thus in every bilateral covenant, God placed terms for a wrong-doer to be renewed.

Covenants can be said to be "renewed" in four ways:

I. INCORPORATION

God began His "saving covenant" with Abraham. (Gen. 12-17). Later, God expanded that same covenant to include the descendants of Abraham like Isaac (Gen. 26). Then He renewed it with Jacob (Gen. 28:10 -22). In each instance, the Lord took the same covenant that was already in force and expanded it to include more and more people (in keeping with His promise to bless the entire world).

165



Chapter 11

After the renewal ceremony in Deuteronomy, arrangements were made for Jews in succeeding generations to be incorporated. In Judaism, a Jewish child at 13 became "Barmitzvah"--"a son of the Law." Converts to Judaism were baptized. William Barclay claims that Jews knew well the concept of baptism, and called a new Jewish convert "a child new-born." He argues that Jews knew exactly what Jesus was saying in John 3:5 when the Master said, "You must be born again."1

Mont Smith says that a person could become a Jew by (1) circumcision, for it was said "A few drops of the blood of the covenant must be made to flow from him," (2) baptism, and (3) sacrifice.2 Beasley-Murray, the famous Baptist scholar agrees.3

The alien could personally make that covenant his own by circumcision, baptism, and blood offering, and God graciously included him in the covenant.

II. REGENERATION AND REMINDER.

God renewed covenant with His people many times in the Old Testament dispensation. The book of Deuteronomy is really just that: a "covenant renewal ceremony."

1William Barclay, The Gospel Of John in the Daily Study Bible 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956), 115.
2Smith, 203-205.
3G.R. Beasley-Murray, Baptism In The New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Erdman, 1977), 227.

166



Chapter 11

"Forty years after Sinai, just before Israel's entrance into the promised land, Moses led the people into a great covenant renewal while they were camped on the plains of Moab, poised for their conquest of Canaan. The book of Deuteronomy presents us with a lengthy covenant renewal document which follows the classic pattern of a treaty made in the Near East centuries ago. This document more clearly spells out the covenant blessings and curses. It also shows us the witnesses to the covenant--"heaven and earth" (Deut. 4:26; 30:19; 31:25f).1

Besides Deuteronomy, God's covenant with Israel is marked by several great covenant renewals:

It was first renewed a few days after the covenant was first broken by Israel. This was when they made the golden calf (Ex. 34:10, 27, 29).
Then it was renewed to the next generation in the plains of Moab just before the death of Moses. (The record of this renewal, as we said, is the book of Deuteronomy).

Reviewing Deuteronomy, you can see an obvious

1Alexander Campbell, The Covenant Story of the Bible (Boston: United Church Press, 1963), 163. Heaven and earth are witnesses to the covenant; thus heaven and earth are called "back into court" when God accuses Israel of infidelity (Micah 6:1-5).

167



Chapter 11

covenant being discussed. Again, the form of covenant is evident before our eyes:

1. Preamble: chapter 1:1-5.

2. Historical prologue: chapters 1:6 to 4:49.

3. Stipulations: chapter 5 and amplified to the end of chapter 26.

4. Sanctions: chapters 27 to 30:20.

5. Depository, witnesses, etc.: chapters 31 to 34.

As Israel crossed the Jordan and took their positions to conquer the promised land, God insisted on covenant renewal (Joshua 5).
Then there was a great renewal of the covenant before the death of Joshua (Josh. 24). Here the covenant bears another remarkable resemblance to the suzerainty treaty.

1. Historic Prologue (24:1-13).

2. Invitation to Covenant (14, 15).

3. Blessings and Curses (19-21).

4. Terms (22-24).

5. Memorial (26, 27).

168



Chapter 11

Another great covenant renewal occurred in the days of King Josiah (see 2 Ki. 23:2, 3).
Then the last great renewal in Old Testament history took place after the Babylonian Exile (see Neh. 9 &amp; 10).

Other ways covenants are renewed are:

III. PARTICIPATION (VOLUNTARY RENEWAL)

On occasion, an entire group of God's people banded together to renew covenant, as in the days of Nehemiah.

The rest of the people-priests, Levites, gate-keepers, singers, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand--29 all these now join their brothers the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.
Neh. 10:28

An individual also "renews the covenant" when he

169



Chapter 11

makes sacrifice. In Psalm 50:51 we hear God saying Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice. "Man by his sin against God, owed his very life as a forfeit to God; but God had provided that animals' lives should serve for the time being until the God-man could later give His life as the only proper and final substitute."2

The worshipers, then, brought the animal to God as a sign (1) that he was a sinner but (2) he was still in "good faith" in the covenant. He was, in offering the animal, appealing to God to accept the life of the lamb as a substitute for his own life. He was saying, "God, I deserve to die, but if you will accept this animal in my stead, I will try to do better next time." Thus the worshipers went away renewed in his covenant.

Fourth, covenant was renewed by

IV. RESTORATION

Do you recall the glorious time when Jacob came to Luz and spent the night? He has a vision of God and angels. The next morning, he excitedly awakes and makes a covenant with God. (God incorporates Jacob into the Abrahamic covenant). This covenant-making was recorded in Gen. 28:10-22.

Years later, after Jacob had spent over 20 years in his

1God makes reference to such covenant sacrifices as "covenant blood." Zech 9:11, Neh. 10:28, 29.
2Walter C. Kaiser, 117.

170



Chapter 11

father-in-law's estate, he hears the voice of God in a dream, beckoning him back to Luz (now called Bethel). For years, Jacob had not been too exact in keeping Covenant. The fact that he had to put away the foreign idols shows that he was not keeping the covenant faithfully. But he returned to Bethel, participated in a renewal ceremony and went away refreshed (Genesis 35:1-14). Jacob is a changed man from that time on.

Moses renewed covenant with God by circumcision before embarking on his mission of liberation (Ex. 4:24-26).

Joshua circumcised the entire nation of Israel because, in the wilderness, they had not practiced the rite of circumcision (Josh. 5:2-8).

THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW COVENANT: AT THE CROSS.

When Jesus came into the world, he came to make a covenant. Not with us, but with God. It was going to be a superior covenant-better than any God ever made with anyone else. The record says that Jesus Himself was the "guarantee of a better covenant" (Heb. 7:22). It was to be a covenant based on better promises. He would be the Mediator of that new covenant, and His blood would be the blood that sealed it (Matthew 26:26, 27).

This covenant was not made originally with any of us. It was ratified at Calvary between Jesus and His Father. It could be said that this covenant was unilateral--that is, it was established and ratified without works or input on the part of

171



Chapter 11

any human being. It was by God and by grace, first and last. It was established to save all who choose to be saved; and it was ratified separate and apart from any merits of our own or any of our suggestions.

We can do nothing to earn our own salvation--that is given freely in the covenant. But when we enter covenant, we who are redeemed can do nothing less than what the Master wills. There are things we saved people do to show ourselves in good faith under that covenant.

There is a cross for each of us (Luke 14:27) and a straight path for us to walk (Matt. 7:13, 14). It is called "walking in the light" (1 John 1:6, 7) and "walking in the fear of the Lord" (Acts 9:31). As one scholar put it: "While salvation is by grace, judgement is by works."1 These are "works of faith" spoken of by James (2:15-17)--works that show we are redeemed and are in Covenant.

This treaty, then, is offered to anyone wishing to "save himself from this crooked generation."2 It is the obedient who receive God's goodness and revel in the Grace.3

God took the covenant and "signed it in blood." It was "signed, sealed and delivered" before we ever even heard the "Good News." Yet, He allows anyone to participate if they desire (Heb. 8:8, I Timothy 4:10, Revelation 22:17). He

1O. Palmer Robertson, 56.
2Acts 2:39
3See Acts 5:32; Rom. 6:16; Rom. 15:8; Rom. 16:26; Eph. 6:5, 6; Heb. 5:9.

172



Chapter 11

renews it one at a time for every newborn who enters the covenant.

THE RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT BY INCORPORATION

Around 2000 years have passed since Christ's covenant was effected on the cross. Yet, when you hear the Gospel; when you personally acknowledge Christ as Lord; when you are baptized into Christ, you become "Barmitzvah"--a "son of the law." At that point, you are made new. Your relationship with God begins; your name is written in heaven, and for you, the kingdom has come.

And because you are bought by the blood of Christ, your natural question should be: "now what can I do to please my Savior?" The answer is found in the writings of the New Testament. You are expected to know and abide by the "covenant terms." No longer will you walk "as the Gentiles walk." Now you walk in the light.

THE COVENANT IS RENEWED IN PARTICIPATION

Under the Old Law, as we saw, when a man brought a lamb and sacrificed it to God at the temple, he was "renewing the covenant" on a personal basis. (1 Sam. 1:1-6, Psalm 50:5). "There were a lot of sacrifices and offerings. A sacrifice was also an offering to God. It was giving to God one's life and, by substitution, one's life blood.1

1Steven Szikszai, The Covenants in Faith and History (Philadelphia: Geneva Press, 1968), 81.

173



Chapter 11

Under the Covenant of Christ, there is one covenant renewal ceremony: "The Lord's Supper." The scripture is clear on this.

Matt. 26:27-29, Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

1 Cor. 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

REMARKS BY VARIOUS SCHOLARS ON OUR COVENANT RENEWAL:

O. Palmer Robertson:

The Christian celebrates the reality of this new covenant relationship each time he participates in the Lord's Supper. Paul the apostle recognizes this supper to be a covenantal feast in that he echoes the words of the Lord Jesus concerning the "new covenant."1

Harold Fey:

The promise that change shall occur (in

1Robertson, 43.

174



Chapter 11

the Christian) is firmly rooted in the covenant of the Lord's Supper. From the first, Paul made it clear that participation in this observance required a choice. Members were no longer free to attend idolatrous feasts or to engage in devil worship. At the Lord's Supper itself they were to conduct themselves with joy and decorum and to share with the less fortunate members of the community....This principle that the covenant which was celebrated in the Lord's Supper involved a two-way obligation was an important factor in the influence of the early church. It should be equally distinctive of the church today.1

Mont Smith:

The church met on the first day of the week. The practice was related to the resurrection. Sunday came to be known as the Lord's day because the Lord's supper was celebrated at that time by all members of the church....The Lord's supper was initiated by Christ. It was a ceremony having bread and wine (I Cor. 11:20)....The table of the Lord was the covenant renewal service.2

1Harold E. Fey, The Lord's Supper: Seven Meanings (New York: Harper Chapel Books, 1965), 47.
2Smith, 331.

175



Chapter 11

The service was not merely a memorial. It was a participation in the blood of Christ. It was a joining with, or a touching the blood of Christ....The contents of the cup were not changed into Christ's blood as a physical element. But in result, it was as if one had made Christ's redeeming blood part of His body. At the old Israelite sacrifices, God acted in heaven when man acted on earth. Man sacrificed in good faith and God acted in good faith, to cover his sins for a year. In the same way, God acted at baptism to cover our sins when we acted in good faith in our pledge. That was Covenant at work. At the Lord's table, God acted in heaven to further remit sins done by the believer as the Christian partook of his blood and body as a pledge of renewal. The Lord's table was much more than a memorial service. It was Covenant renewal.1

Of course the ever-flowing blood of Jesus is always remitting our sins, but at the table of the Lord, we are once again cleansed anew (even again) when we take of His body and blood.

A.R. Millard

Each time the Corinthian Christians shared the Lord's Supper they purported to show their allegiance to the covenant it symbol-

1ibid.

176



Chapter 11

ized, and therefore could not but expect its provisions to be active upon them for good or ill...Two purposes were accomplished by this prompting of memory: thanksgiving which involved renewal of loyalty to the gracious Suzerain, and recollection of the commitments undertaken in response....Remembrance of the establishment of the covenant was, there-fore, an integral feature of the pattern.1

The Lord's supper, then, is a time to recall our past deeds of the week, to resolve and renew ourselves again to the covenant, and to rededicate ourselves to better service.

I Cor. 10:15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf

I Cor. 11:27-29 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

1A. R. Millard, "Covenant and Communion In First Corinthians," Evangelical Quarterly, (Jan. 87), 244.

177



Chapter 11

This week, when you take the Lord's supper, do like the Israelite of old. Make your confession to the Lord, and ask that your substitute cover your sins for the past. Renew yourself to do better in the future. This is your "Covenant Renewal."

THE COVENANT IS RENEWED BY RESTORATION

Forgiveness is a hallmark of the new covenant. Restoration is freely offered to any of God's children at any time.1 Yet this restoration must be a voluntary one, when the erring child "comes to his senses" (Luke 15:17).

God is waiting for our return like he waited for Jacob at Bethel. It was there He had first made covenant with Jacob, and it was there that God would meet him and renew it. He had never forgotten. God is always faithful. As we will see in the following lessons, God shows hesed--a loving, loyal, unchanging fidelity to his covenant, even when the participants on the other side were faithless (2 Tim. 2:13).

God was stubbornly loyal to His covenant made with Israel, and He is with us too. He waits patiently for His erring child to come home and renew covenant.

Only when all hope of reconciliation with the unfaithful Christian is gone does the fierce anger of the Lord fall, not as a lashing out of His temper, but a sad fulfillment of His

1Acts 8:22-24, Heb 8:12, 1 John 1:6-9.

178



Chapter 11

promise to punish the wicked.1

In Heb. 10:25-31, we see a man in covenant beginning to leave that covenant. He "leaves behind" meeting with the saints and thus refuses to renew covenant. Read those verses with the idea of covenant in mind, and you will see (perhaps for the first time) why God was so fiercely angry with him. Especially note verse 29:

...who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Heb. 10:29

This sinning child of God has been unfaithful to the new, superior covenant, and God will not abide that.

Those of us in the covenant need to be very careful about how we behave under the new covenant. We need rejuvenation from time to time. Like Jacob, (Gen. 28) we need to come back to where it all began and renew the covenant.

1Leighton Ford, Good News Is For Sharing, (Fullerton, Ca.: Cook, 1977), 33. Ford said, "The reality of God's wrath is as much a part of the biblical message as God's grace....Yet the concept of God's wrath is hard to accept. Why? Perhaps because our own anger is so often selfish and mean. But God's wrath isn't like mine. Where my love is often fickle, God's love is faithful. Where my anger is often petty, God's wrath is pure. Whereas I 'fly off the handle,' God is 'slow to anger' (Ex. 34:6). God's wrath is his settled, sure hostility to sin. It is not vindictive; it is vindicative. It is the active, resolute action of God to vindicate justice, uphold the moral law of the universe, and punish sin."

179



Chapter 11

Back to the beautiful path I once trod,
Back to the church and the people of God;
Out of the cold world of sin and its woe,
Bethel is calling and I must go.
Back to the prayer-life in Christ I once knew,
Back to its beautiful life-cleansing dew;
Back to help others to conquer each foe,
Bethel is calling and I must go.

180



Chapter 12

THE "HESED" OF GOD

When Harry Houdini, the great escape artist, came to town, he usually pulled a stunt that got him free publicity. He would visit the local jail and get the jailor to bind him with everything the police force had--handcuffs, chains and even strait jackets, then lock him in a cell. Many times he was back in the warden's office by the time the jailor was. It seemed that nothing could hold him long.

But once he was completely baffled. It was on a tour of Scotland. The jail was old, the lock antique, and Houdini fully expected to get out in a matter of minutes--maybe seconds. Sure enough, he shed the handcuffs in record time, and he began work on the cell door. But for once, he found a lock that would not yield. He tried everything that he knew to open the door, but nothing worked. He was stuck.

At last, after working himself into almost exhaustion and ready to admit himself licked, he leaned against the door to catch his breath. To his surprise, the old door creaked, then swung out on its rusty hinges. The crafty jailor, knowing that his jail was nothing to compare to the modem cells Houdini had already beaten, did not even lock the door! Houdini was almost beaten by a cell that was never locked.

The same principle is true in our dealing with God.

181



Chapter 12

The "Spiritual Success" publications are all over. You may have seen books with such titles as, "10 Keys to Prayer," "Unlocking the Secret of Spiritual Power," "Three Steps To Getting What You Want." We are taught that, if we can find that elusive element, we can call upon God and he will respond.

Such efforts to find "success with God" are needless. There isn't anything magical or mystical about it. There is but one simple, clearly discussed principle of faith found in your Bible that will turn your life around. It is not found in a book; it is found in the Book. This principle is called hesed and is translated in many ways in various translations of the Bible.

In the Hebrew, 'Hesed' is a marvelous idea. Before defining it, I want to establish its very high place in Biblical thinking. It was a covenant-related term of greatest importance...In Deuteronomy it was used exclusively to de-scribe Jehovah. It was always used in association with the word 'Berith,"Covenant.'...One could expect "hesed" from Jehovah simply because He was as good as His word....'Hesed' had an element of affection in it, and could not be translated simply 'loyalty.' In covenant....the partner had an element of trust and love or concern for the other.1

THE MEANING OF THE TERM

1Mont Smith, 22, 23.

182



Chapter 12

The more popular Bible versions translate the word in different ways. The King James Version, the American Standard, and the New American Standard all translate it as loving-kindness. The New International Version is disappointing in its effort, using only the word love1 (though the Hebrew has other words for love, and hesed means more than that).

The Revised Standard uses an excellent policy: when it speaks of God showing hesed, it translates hesed as loyalty. When it speaks of a man showing hesed to another man, they use the term kindness. That is good, because when used of man, the word denotes the loyalty, faithfulness, and kindness that he would show to another person. When it is used of man and his hesed towards God, there is no kindness he can show God. Thus, it simply means man's utter loyalty to the covenant of God and obedience to His will. If man is hesed with God, he is just faithful. He stubbornly holds on to his faith and trusts in God.

But what does the word actually mean? It is translated variously as mercy, kindness, goodness, loving-kindness, faithfulness, concern--all these things are bound up in the expression.

John Bright, however, was correct when he said, "The word hesed cannot be exactly translated....The word is intimately related to the idea of the covenant. When it is used

1We can, however, understand their reasoning behind this translation: Hesed in the Hebrew is the equivalent to Agape in the New Testament Greek (as we shall see).

183



Chapter 12

of God, it is very nearly the equivalent of grace. It refers to the favor of God which he shows them even in spite of unworthiness."1

When used to describe God, it speaks too of His loyalty, His patience, His special kindness to His covenant child. And mark that word covenant closely, for hesed is a covenant word. God does not show hesed to just anybody.

Recently, I was amazed to discover how the Bible is filled with hesed from first to last. Just out of curiosity, I asked my computer to find and print out every instance where it could find the word in Hebrew. Then I asked it to print it out in English, and it came to 24 pages--of nothing but hesed. It is used 250 times in 246 verses in the Old Testament. As you stay with this study, you will discover why it is used so much. It is because it is such a phenomenal term describing the unique kindness of a great God. No man could have figured this out. Let's take just these few examples:

Read Ps. 136 out loud, and remember that centuries ago, the cantor would stand before the congregation and chant the first part of each verse, and the congregation would sing back in reply the oft-repeated phrase in that Psalm, "For His loving-kindness endures forever." They were using that word, hesed. Here are some other places that you will find it.

1John Bright, The Kingdom Of God, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1972), 28.

184



Chapter 12

Ps. 101:1 I will sing of your loving-kindness and justice..

Ps. 100:5 For the Lord is good, his loving-kindness is everlasting, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Ps. 86:15 "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

The key to the entire Old Testament is God's hesed--the "why" behind everything God did. Look at God's dealings; you will see His loyalty, His love, and His patience always, in every instance.

AN ILLUSTRATION OF HESED

When two men--say a king and a commoner--became one in covenant, they willingly bound themselves together. Loving-kindness was the king's fidelity to the commoner in that covenant. The king would, in effect, say to the other man, "What happens to you, happens to me. If anyone does anything to you, they do it to me. Call on me at any time, and I will be there."

Between covenant partners, there was built up an expectancy. The one had a right to expect help and comfort from the other when he needed it. There was a mutual under-standing of covenant loyalty when the bond was formed.

Allow me to share this personal example of loving-kindness:

185



Chapter 12

Years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school, my brother Gene was a senior. I was small, he was big; I was skinny, he was muscular. Gene was a quiet boy who never fought or argued with anyone. But everyone knew by his prowess in playing football that you didn't want to get him angry.

One day, my girlfriend and I were leaving the school on a cold and snowy afternoon. As we got into the car, a young thug thought it would be cute to throw snow on us; so he picked up a chunk of ice mixed with snow about one foot by one foot and heaved it through the open door on us. The hunk didn't break, however, and it hit my girlfriend causing some pain.

I tried to play the man, but hollering and threatening was lost on a boy larger and meaner than myself. He just laughed at me and went his way.

I went home that night, angry, shamed, and helpless. I had lost face, and there was nothing I could do. I told my family at the table that night and cried like a baby.

My brother said nothing, but the next day, he went se-arching for the ruffian who threw the ice ball. Gene found the boy eating lunch at a drug store counter. There, in the presence of some of his class-mates, my brother spun the boy around on the stool, asked him if he thought he was tough, and stared him down. The boy turned pale and shook with fright. Gene told the fellow that he had until school was out that afternoon to apologize to me and my girl. He did.

186



Chapter 12

I didn't ask that of my brother. But for my brother, there was nothing else he would have done. I may have been a pest and a bother as a brother, but I was his brother; and whoever picked on me was in trouble with him.

The same is true with God. His hesed was promised in the making of covenant; and every time his people needed him, there he was, working--even when they didn't ask or even know.

GOD'S HESED AT WORK WITH ABRAHAM

When God called Abram, even before the covenant was ratified, he promised the patriarch His hesed. Gen. 12:l-3 The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

At the ratification of the covenant, His faithfulness and mercy are promised again: Gen. 15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

Watch how this hesed works when Abraham is in danger: Gen. 20:2- Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

187



Chapter 12

This is the attitude God has toward all of His covenant children: 1 Chron. 16:21 He allowed no man to oppress them, for their sake he rebuked kings. 22 "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."

GOD'S HESED AT WORK WITH ISAAC

God makes the same promise to the son of Abraham.

That night the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."
Gen. 26:24

All Isaac has to do is trust, and God is going to work things out for Isaac's good. And does He? The very next day, Abimelech, the source of Isaac's troubles comes to him humbly and asks for a covenant of peace. God has been "putting the fear" into Abimelech. Isaac has done nothing. Such is the way of God's Hesed.

GOD'S HESED AT WORK WITH JACOB

Jacob has just left home. He is running from his angry brother, on his way to his relatives in Paddan Aram. He makes camp at a place called Luz. He falls asleep and dreams of angels. The next morning, Jacob is ready to make a covenant with God. In his prayer, Jacob asks for God's hesed.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with

188



Chapter 12

me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."
Gen. 28:20

Years later, Jacob leaves his father-in-law and taking his wives, his children and flocks, he begins his trek toward home. When the father-in-law, Laban, discovers it, he flies into a rage. He sets out, fully intent on catching up with Jacob and killing him. But just as Laban draws near, God is there to shield Jacob.

Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."
Gen. 31:24

GOD'S HESED AT WORK WITH DAVID

Ps. 89:28-34 I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. 29 I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. 30 If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, 31 if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, 32 I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; 33 but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. 34 I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.

When people make covenant with God, they can rest assured "He won't move," for the Father of the heavenly lights

189



Chapter 12

...does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

Though it may be a bit out of order just here, I must insert a thought that is important. Do you remember when the children of Israel came into the promised land? Do you recall God's cold orders to kill everyone in the land without mercy? It is almost enough to make us shudder and wonder at the mercy of God. But look at that command again, this time in view of God's faithful covenant-keeping.

The Authors, La Sor, Hubbard and Bush tells us:

"Yahweh acted on behalf of Israel and against Israel's enemies because of his covenant with the fathers. In fact, this makes the idea of total destruction an understandable item in biblical religion, for the covenant's ultimate purpose is to provide for all the nations of the earth the knowledge of Yahweh and the covenant blessings. Anything or any person that would prevent the working out of this redemptive purpose must be removed. Al-though this may seem a harsh verdict, the alternative is the hatred and hostility that prevail among people who have not come to know the redemptive work of God.1

QUESTION: COULD THE COVENANT PEOPLE LOSE THIS HESED OF GOD?

1La Sor, Hubbard &amp; Bush, Old Testament Survey, 211.

190



Chapter 12

Consider the case of Israel in the days of Hosea. Hos. 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show mercy to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them ".

Israel had grown so calloused and wicked that God says he will withdraw his mercy from them. But even then, note that the word here is not hesed; it is racham, also translated mercy, but is not the covenant word.

It seems that, in this case and to that generation, God would withdraw the kindness He has shown, but He will never give up on the covenant. He still worked for their good (in this case by punishing them to bring them back) so He could ultimately bless even these rebels.

HESED AT WORK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

If hesed is such an important term, then what is New Testament equivalent? The word that parallels the Old Testament hesed is seen in the famous New Testament word Ay arm agape.

Agape is the highest word for love. It seeks to find and do only the best for someone. It deliberately chooses to think, speak, and do good for someone else--the exact equivalent to hesed in the Old Testament. That is why the NIV translated the Old Testament word hesed as love. In that, they are correct.

Consider, for example, the famous description for love

191



Chapter 12

in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. It sounds almost exactly like the description of hesed: 1 Cor. 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It was this faithful love that caused God to send His Son into the world. It was the same love that caused Jesus to take on flesh and dwell among us.

There are also two other related Greek words; E? c eleew (translated around 31 times as have compassion, mercy or pity upon) and EAEOC, Eleos (translated 28 times as mercy).1 Yet the two words mean basically the same thing. And the message is the same as of old: "God remembers; God is there; God is standing by to help."

When the Savior's birth was announced to Mary and her people, Mary and Elizabeth and Zechariah all sang of the "tender mercies of our God." Read Luke 1:47-55, then 1:68-75. Note their gratitude that God had not forgotten, that in His mercy he had come to carry out what he had promised.

Because of God's patient love (John 3:16), this same mercy is offered to sinners. Eph. 2:4-9, Titus 3:3-7. No matter who we are or what we have done, His mercy waits to save us. Amazing grace!

1Robert Young, Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdman, N.D.) 22nd ed., 67.

192



Chapter 12

And for us Christians, the blessings are piled one on the other. Consider the beautiful "Ephesian prayer":

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Eph. 1:17

Here is God's hesed and agape at work in us. God's love is meant for all men and women who will enter covenant. Only Covenant people could be promised such power, and only because of the tender mercies of God--faithful in covenant to hear your prayers and respond.

To appreciate this glorious truth, just try it! God is bound to you in covenant; He Himself has said so. He invites you to call on Him.1 He promises you His hesed. He has tied your rope to His wrist. Use it.

1Matthew 7:7, 8 Luke 18:l

193



Chapter 13

THOSE WHO TRUSTED IN THE HESED

During the great depression, a man was frantically looking for a job so he could feed his family. He heard of an opening in a telegraph office, working for Western Union. So with hope in his heart, he rushed to the office. As he entered the outer lobby, however, his heart sank. In that office was at least 50 other men who had come seeking the same job. They all knew Morse Code and were as qualified as he. Sadly, he took a number and went over to a corner and stood leaning against the wall.

As he waited there in the crowd, he could hear the low murmur of the men talking around him, and the soft "ta-ta-tap-tap" of someone in the inner office sending a message.

Suddenly his mind began to focus in on that tapping, and he started translating the message in his mind. It was saying, "tap-ta-tap-tap...If anyone...ta-ta-tap-tap...in the outer office...tap-ta-ta-ta...can hear this, then...tap-ta-ta--ta-ta-tap...come in and you will have a job."

In a flash, the man turned and ran into the inner office to find the boss tapping out the message on a steam pipe. Out of the 50 applicants, he got the job. The message was loud enough for everyone, but only one heard it.

195



Chapter 13

In studying this wonderful truth called hesed, we get the same feeling: the truth is there--the message is going out to anyone who will hear, but few listen closely enough to catch it.

In the last study, we said that His loving-kindness, (loyalty, concern and kindness) is all tied up in this word so often used in the Old Testament. We saw this faithfulness of God as he waited on men, protected them, fought for them, led them, and patiently listened to them. Remember that God has bound Himself in covenant with us by His loving grace.

And by that same grace, he is true to that covenant forever. He is ready at all times to show hesed to us. He will never desert us nor forsake us so that we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Heb. 13:6

This covenant loyalty is freely offered to everyone who will hear and trust it. He says it to all men, but very few will hear it. Very few will understand nor unleash the power at their disposal.

In this lesson, we want to look at just a few people who understood this principle. They "caught it" and made it work for them. Those who catch on, those who apply the same principles. will tap the very power God. With that power we will have the abundant life God wants for us. Let me give you these examples:

MOSES DISCOVERED THIS KEY

196



Chapter 13

Moses was the earthly confidante to God. Ps. 103:7 says, He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the sons of Israel.

He was a man God spoke to face to face. The record says in Deuteronomy 34:10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to faced 1 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt--to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Yet Moses didn't start out like that, did he? He was a timid man who wanted only to be left alone in the wilderness. God, however, had heard the cries of the children of Israel, and he called Moses for the task.

Of all the wailing and excuse making, you never heard!1 "They won't listen to me," he pleads. "I can't speak in public! Why what would I say?" "O God, just get someone else." Yet God would not be denied. He answers every one of Moses' objections and sends him anyway.

To his credit, Moses goes, even if his heart is in his throat and his knees are knocking. With shaking hand, Moses appears before Pharoah. He says what God told him to say and does what God told him to do. And it works!

1See Exodus 3 &amp; 4.

197



Chapter 13

Moses watches God at work. By one miracle after another, Jehovah slaps down every idol of Egypt, showing His superiority. Meanwhile, Moses learns step by step about the power of the Lord. His confidence and faith grows.

By the time God delivers Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, Moses is truly God's man. He leads the people out of Egypt facing only a few minor details--details like "Where are we going?" "How are we going to get there?," and "What are we going to eat and drink?"

To make matters worse, just as they come to the Red Sea, here comes Pharaoh racing up behind them to box them in. The people panic, but Moses has learned the key to hesed.

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Ex. 14:13

Moses says, "Just be quiet and wait." That is the correct posture for covenant people who have 'caught on." God says, "My job is delivering you; yours is to trust me."

MOSES AND THE AMALAKITES

Then in Ex. 17:8-13, The Amalakites array themselves against God's people. The children of Israel get ready to fight. They plan their battle strategy against the Amalakites. And

198



Chapter 13

what is that strategy? Moses simply goes up and holds up his hands to God (a position of total helplessness). He is appealing for God's loving-kindness--and he gets the help he needs.

In such times, Moses learned the greatest lessons of faith: to expect, to take, to rest, and to trust in Yahweh.

Any time one covenant person understands that principle, God is ready to work His wonders.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. 11 But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Ps. 81:10-12

God's message has always been the same: don't be afraid. Trust me! Deut. 20:1-8.

GIDEON DISCOVERS THE KEY Judges 7

There is no need to go into detail; you know the story well. It speaks of how God took a common man to lead a tiny army against an innumerable host. By one step after another, God whittled the number of fighting men down from 32,000 to 300. Yet, one of the greatest victories in the history of warfare was won here, simply because a frightened man dared trust in the hesed of God.

There is no way that you and God can be outnumbered.

199



Chapter 13

You and God are a majority if you will but trust Him. There is nothing to big or too hard for the Lord to do.

DAVID DISCOVERS THE KEY I Sam. 17

God had promised in the covenant to be the ever-present help and protection of His people. That was wonderful in theory, but now, across the valley the Philistines are arrayed. And among them stands Goliath, the great monster of a man. This was not theory; it was real.

Here is their champion, Goliath the great! Day after day he comes to the field for a fight. Day after day he shouts his curses to Israel over the field.

He taunts king Saul publically, but no Israelite moves to come to Saul's defense. Saul tries to find one man who will fight--nobody moves. The king says, "Anyone who fights this man can live tax free in Israel"--nobody moves. "You can marry my daughter the princess" he pleads-but nobody moves.

But at night around the campfire, the men talk big about what they would have done and what should be done. "Why doesn't God do something?" they ask.

They didn't understand. God is doing something: He is waiting for just one man who will dare stand up and trust Him. But because no man catches on to the promise of Hesed, God is silent.

Every morning for six weeks, God honors the

200



Chapter 13

ignorance and fear of these faithfulness people. God doesn't move.

If only one man had understood that God was bound by loving-kindness to help! Had that man, in utter helplessness, trusted God and gone out to prove it, it would have all been over for the Philistines.

Finally, along came David to visit his brothers; a mere teenager, about 16--too young to go in the draft. The lad hears the monster's taunt and is incensed that anyone could get away with such blasphemy. He volunteers to go out to the fight, and God works it out. David is God's man in the field.

Goliath looks over at this little lad as he walks onto the field. Taunts and curses fill the air as Goliath raves against David. Philistines laugh and hoot at the sight.

But note David's speech. It is obvious that David understands the hesed of God

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel." 1 Sam. 17:45, 46

201



Chapter 13

Consider David's attitude toward this one stronger than himself. He is brash and bold. Why? Because he knew the God of covenant. He knew that God was bound to act. And it was true. God acted in such a glorious way that the day was won, and David began his career in God's public service. One man acted on the hesed of God, and God proved true. He always does.

THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND TODAY

He who understands the loving-kindness of God under-stands the key. God knows that we walk by faith, not by sight II Cor. 5:7. Yet he has always demanded that the just shall live by faith Hab. 2:4. He wants to take that walk of faith with us. He wants us to rely upon Him and ask what we will.

So what kind of faith must we have?

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for....32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were

202



Chapter 13

tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
Heb. 11:1-38

God is waiting for His children to rest in Him, to trust in Him, and step out in faith. All God wants you to do is to believe and wait, expecting the best. Troubles may come, but they are coming for our good, like they did in the days of Israel.

Trouble forced the people of old to lean upon God's faithfulness. If they hadn't been thirsty to the point of hurt, they would never would have seen God's miracle of the water from the rock. If they hadn't been hungry to the point of hurting, they never would have seen the manna. If the Egyptians had not come upon them, they never would have seen the parting of the sea. If the Philistines had not come to crush them out of existence, they never would have seen God destroy a giant.

All trouble is but the reverse end of a wonder--a stage upon which God can perform His promised mercy, kindness and love. Sometimes God has to lead us to the wilderness to force us to try Him, and call on His loving-kindness.

203



Ah, but when one man or woman can learn the principle of hesed, what a wonder! God is delighted to keep His covenant. He is pleased when you rely upon Him. He is faithful even when you are not. The God of covenant is seeking for one man or woman who understands covenant; one who can rest and trust and accept. God can be great friends with such a one.

That is the message, forever being "tapped over the pipes." He who has an ear, let him hear, and let him act.

204



Chapter 14

GOD'S MARRIAGE COVENANT

This might shock you, but it is true: once upon a time, God wanted to get married and have a child. To some, that might sound like nothing short of blasphemy; yet I don't say it lightly. I say it because it is the truth. We are talking about God's Old Testament wife, Israel. And here is how He did it:

God is not limited in time, so He was not in a hurry to find someone. He had time to look things over carefully from the beginning. In fact, He did not look at the bride; but first He looked at the father of the bride. God chose Abraham (Genesis 12:l, Genesis 17:8), and through this man, God chose His bride. Let me tell you the story:

GOD WOOED HIS BELOVED

How did you men go about winning your wife? When you first saw that lovely lady, you decided you had to get her to notice you. You may have gone into debt for a shiny new car; you may have joined the football team, but you wanted to impress her and catch her eye.

God, too, showed His power over the false gods of Egypt. When you see God pouring out plague after plague on Pharoah and his people, remember: the plagues were not just

205



Chapter 14

haphazard inconveniences of blood, flies, darkness, hail, sores etc. The Egyptians held the Nile to be a god; the same for the fly, and darkness etc. Each was a god and each had a name. So when Jehovah poured them out on His enemies, each plague was formulated to bring down an Egyptian god--including the last god: Pharaoh. By this means, God was making Himself attractive to His beloved, Israel.

GOD WON HIS BELOVED

Finally, the day came, and he led them out to the Red Sea. You recall the story how God drown Pharoah's army in the sea. Through that one mighty act, God impresses His loved one. To say the least, she is overwhelmed!

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: "I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 4 Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. 6 "Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy."
Ex. 15:1-6

206



Chapter 14

And so God led his chosen one out into the wilderness and into the region of Mt. Sinai. There he "pops the question." We have read and discussed this proposal many times already in this study. This is where God invites the people to enter covenant so they can be His priests--His special possession (Exodus 19:2-8).

Do you see what is happening here? God is entering a marriage contract with His people. The contract for that marriage: the 10 commandments (Exodus 20). Like a woman in love, Israel repeats the same refrain three times, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do (Exodus 19:8, Exodus 24:3, 7).

Thus, there on the windswept slopes of Sinai, The marriage covenant is ratified. There was sacrifice; there was oath-taking and there was a covenant meal. Israel became God's own "special possession above all the people on the face of the earth." From that point on, God referred to Israel as His own Bride.

Is. 54:5 For your Maker is your husband-- the Lord Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

Jer. 3:14 I am your husband (I am married to you). I will choose you--one from a town and two from a clan--and bring you to Zion.

Ezek. 16:8 Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness.

207



Chapter 14

I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

THE INFIDELITY OF THE WIFE

This would have been a beautiful story, but you know the history of Israel. She was not very faithful for very long. (The story of Hosea illustrates the infidelity God's wife showed).

Then there is the story Ezekiel told. It was a sad story of God's love for faithless Israel. He spoke of God passing by, seeing Israel and entering into a marriage covenant with her. Then he sadly added:

But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.
Ezek. 16:15, 16

Thus God, the broken-hearted, faithful husband-- be-cause he could not get His wife to return and be loyal-- made a fateful decision: He gave Israel a divorce.

208



Chapter 14

Jer. 3:8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries.

Is. 50:3 This is what the Lord says: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away."

Though it was, for all intents and purposes finished, God held on to the marriage covenant with Judah until such time that a son could be born. But from the time of Israel's infidelity, God began speaking of the time He would marry again.

Jer. 31:31 "The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord.

Hosea 2:18-20 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. 19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. 20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know

209



Chapter 14

the Lord.

Note: God, in His patience, stayed with this unfaithful wife until His son was born, the son of promise (Gal. 4:4). Then the contract was finished with Israel.

THE SEARCH FOR ANOTHER BRIDE

When Jesus came into the world, this child of promise began telling the world of a new marriage covenant that he would make with all who will obey His will. These covenant children would be called part of "the house of Israel." Anyone who would personally say, "All that the Lord has spoken, I will do," this person becomes a part of the marriage covenant and thus is made part of the "Bride of Christ."

OUR MARRIAGE TO GOD

Please consider this very closely: this covenant we are under today is a marriage covenant (Rom. 7:4). We become married to Christ much the same way as we are married to one another in the covenant of human matrimony. Note these similarities between your romantic covenant with your mate and your spiritual covenant with your Savior:

BEFORE MARRIAGE, THERE MUST BE AN ATTRACTION.

Who could ever forget that "enchanted evening" when we first saw that "stranger across a crowded room?" You may have been smitten, deliciously interested in that charming creature, but you are not married yet. No, don't get in a hurry.

210



Chapter 14

You have just seen her (or him). You may have been interested, but not married.

The same is true in our introduction to Christ Jesus. There was a time in our spiritual lives that we came to hear of Him. We met Him for the first time (perhaps we grew up hearing of Him, but we began listening for the first time). This stage is what the Bible calls "hearing."

THE STAGE OF SEEKING

There is a period of dating when we first meet at the door and "step out together." It is a period of learning and conversing, of testing and proving the philosophies and standards of one another.

This, in the Christian walk, is the period we call "believing." We come to accept Him for what the Bible says He is: the Lord of heaven and earth--the Savior. Now merely saying you believe is not believing.1 Nor are you saved at this point, but you are on your way!

THE STAGE OF COMMITTED COURTSHIP.

Romantically, there follows for us the next step, a period of "going steady". We are not interested any more in dating others. We gladly give that up to gain the exclusive

1There are many examples in the Bible of people who were said to "Believe" on Jesus, but had only an interest in him; they had no saving faith at all (See John's Gospel, especially John 8 where "Believers" are reported to lash out at him and turn away from his teaching. Also, John 12:42.)

211



Chapter 14

company of one person.

This, in the Christian experience, is what we call "repentance." We don't want to run with this world any more. We hear the call of Jesus in 2 Cor. 6:17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." We will walk with Him and Him alone. We are not yet married to Him, but we want no other.

THE STAGE OF EXPRESSING LOVE.

Did anything like this happen to you in your romance? (I will tell the male view, but you ladies can change it to make the picture your own). You are getting ready for your next date with your beloved. You are happy and excited just at the thought of getting to be around her.

You are putting on your shirt when, suddenly, little brother comes in. With a turned up nose and a gremlin grin, he begins dancing around saying, "Ha ha! You're going out with that girl again, aren't you? You loooove a girl! You loooove a girl!" You are about to slap the little brat, when all of a sudden you stop. A slow smile comes over your face and you quietly answer (as though it is a discovery) "You know, you're right. I do love her. I really do!"

Covenant makers get to that point too in their love affair with Jesus. We come to the stage of "confession" where we will gladly confess with our mouths the love and faith we have in our hearts. No, still we are not married, but

212



Chapter 14

we are ready now to tell the world.

THE STEP OF CONSUMMATION

Finally, for you the day arrives with your loved one. You stand up publicly before God and a company of friends, and you make your covenant with your mate. Rings are exchanged, vows are taken (called the "Oath swearing ceremony" in covenant-making), and you two consummate your relationship in the happy, blessed marriage bed. (Heb. 13:4).

The same thing is true in your marriage to Christ. When you progress to believing with your heart; you repent and change your mind; you confess with your mouth; then you are ready to do something with your entire body: you are to be baptized (Gal. 3:27).

This is the consummation point where body meets covenant blood, where Spirit unites with the soul. A person is buried with Christ--the only place in the New Testament where I am said to do anything "with Christ" to be saved (Rom. 6:3-5). I am buried with him in baptism and raised with him through (my) faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. (Col. 2:12)

AS A RESULT OF THIS UNION

When that consummation is done; when we are married to Christ, then we live like any other bride. We wear His name, Acts 11:26. We wear "his ring" or the "sign" of our covenant with Him. Eph. 1:13 We live only for Him,

213



Chapter 14

James 4:4, We bear fruit for Him, Rom. 7:4. Though he is gone now preparing a place for us, we look forward to His return.

Allow one more personal illustration, please. Whenever I am called to another city away from my wife and family, we try to take some time for ourselves where I can sit down by my wife and tell her that I love her. I tell her that I am going away, but I tell her where I will be and what I will be doing. When we were young and not used to being apart, I would occasionally console her by saying not to worry, that I would be back soon, and we would make up for lost family time.

Does this not sound like Christ, the husband, consoling His wife in John 14:1?

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

There is no fear in a picture like that. If our relation-ship is that close, we can anxiously await His coming. What a day that will be for those faithfully waiting for Him! And what will that day be like for you? It depends. Are you in covenant relation with Him? Are you a faithful bride?

214



Chapter 15

THE HUMAN MARRIAGE COVENANT

Someone once said that the beauty of a covenant is seen in the fact that, in the covenant-making process, two wills become one; two allegiances become one, thus two lives become one. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in the "Marriage Covenant" between two people-especially two covenant people.

We have studied a lot of Bible up to this point. We have seen all kinds of covenants, and how they functioned. Now let's take a break from the "deep"study, and have some fun applying what we have learned. Let's look at the covenants people made when they married in the first century. "Marriage covenant" is a good word for it. God rebuked the Jews in the days of Malachi for not living up to that covenant. He said:

The Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. (Malachi. 2:14)

As best we can, let's go back and see how they formed those kinds of covenants.

To the ancients, the early Hebrew word "marry" hiphal

215



Chapter 15

originally meant "to become someone's son-in-law."1 Such a marriage was not just an arrangement between two people in love-but two families, sometimes two nations. Sometimes such marriages served as a seal on a covenant between families or clans or kingdoms, making peace, establishing trade, or achieving things that had nothing to do with love.

I will describe for you an arranged marriage, but please understand that not all families made such arrangements. Some young men were years in a home before any arrangements were made. Some had the luxury to choose any available girl and "nominate" her to the father so that an arrangement could be made. Yet others found their future brides selected for them by the time they were weaned.

The marriage covenant between a man and woman was the most important arrangement that could be made in the time of Christ. One Rabbi, commenting on the passage of Genesis 1:28 ("Increase and multiply") made this statement: "A bachelor is not truly a man at all." For centuries before Christ, celibacy was seen as abnormal, almost a disgrace2 though, in the time of Jesus, some had honorably chosen celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven"

1G.W. Browmiley, ed. The International Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 3. s.v. "Marriage," by Nola J. Opperwall. 266.
2Henri Darvel Rops, Daily Life in the Time of Jesus, Trans. Patrick O'Brian (Hawthorn Books, Inc.: New York, 1962)135.

216



Chapter 15

(Matt. 19:12).1 Thus Paul could argue that celibacy was even to be preferred in certain circumstances (l Cor. 7).

Yet by far, the majority of people opted for marriage, home and family. Through the centuries, men were allowed more than one wife, or even a concubine,2 if they could be cared for properly. Monogamy, however, was held to be the highest virtue in marriage. Jesus taught clearly that one man and one woman was the God-given ideal (Matt. 19:5-9). And by far, monogamy was the most popular practice in Israel.

When people married in early Bible times, things were simple. But the passing of time made marriage into an elaborate collection of covenant-making traditions and ceremonies. Because traditions change with succeeding generations, it is hard to pin down exactly everything that went on in the time of Christ. We cannot say that all the following was done in the days of Jesus. Yet certain of these traditions do show up in Bible conversations and illustrations. Note just a few:

ARRANGED MARRIAGES

1The people of the Cumran community at the Dead Sea were celibates, and even the Nazarites for a given period of time, took vows of chastity.
2A concubine was a "female slave" who was regarded as part of the Israelite family. She might be taken in debt or purchased from a poor Israelite family, or even taken captive in war (2 Sam. 5:13) The Law said she was to be afforded certain rights (Gen. 22:24; 36:12; 1 Chron. 1:32; 2:46) and her descendants could inherit property and be given the same honor as other children in a family.

217



Chapter 15

In the Jewish home, the father was the star. The role of the father in the Jewish home is difficult to overstate. This was indeed a "Patriarchal world."1 He was the Baal2 of his wife. He ruled his estate. The wife, though loved and honored, submitted herself to her husband, and he was the unquestioned ruler. It was nothing new when Sarah called Abraham her "Lord" or "Master" (1 Pet. 3:6).

That father, then, was the primary (and sometimes only) figure in prospective Jewish marriages. On occasion it is said that the "friend of the groom" plays some part in the finalizing process, but not the selection.

The wife might have her opinion3 but not the authority of making a marriage4 Love among the marrying couple had nothing to do with it in most cases. The children had little input at all. God's Law, economics and social standing played the major roles in the marriage decisions. There are,

1"Patriarch" = "Father rule"
2Baal="Captain, Chief man, Lord, Master, Owner" (Young's Hebrew Concordance), 6.
3Genesis 27:46.
4Except in cases where there was no husband. In the case of Hagar, it is said in Gen. 21:21 While he (Ishmael) was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother (Hagar) got a wife for him from Egypt.

218



Chapter 15

of course, some early exceptions to this,1 but most children grew up expecting to be content with the father's choice.

Even when the children we not happy, the father had an out. You see, it was held in Jewish tradition that, forty days before a boy's birth, God decided whom the boy would marry. The father was just picking the one God had chosen already.2

In an interesting web article, a Jewish convert by the name of Arnold Fruchtenbaum wrote:

The first step in the Jewish wedding system was the arrangement, in which the father of the groom arranged the match with the father of the bride and paid him the bride price. This stage could occur when the bride and groom were yet children, and often the betrothed would not even meet each other until the day of the wedding. (This was true, in fact, in the case of my own grandparents.)3

1As in the case of Samson, who made his own choice (albeit a bad one) Judges 14:2, 3.
2Rops, 137.
3Arnold Fruchtenbaum, "The Jewish Wedding System and the Bride of Christ," (Web article: http://www.ariel.org/ff00113c.html).

219



Chapter 15

There were times, of course, when a young man would rebel, following his own inclinations, and would marry the girl of his own choice. If the father considered that the boy had made a bad match, or that he had married beneath him, he would take a barrel of fruit out into the streets. He would break that barrel, and cry loudly that he would never acknowledge the wench's offspring. He would declare that the woman's children would never belong to the family, but would be scattered like the fruit laying in the street and rolling in the gutter.1

MARRIAGE CONSIDERATIONS

So how did a father select the right match for his son or daughter? He made the selection for his child first by observing the Law. The Torah had taboos against certain marriages.2 He could not go against the Law of God in forming a marriage.

Blood relations were preferred3, but one had to be

1Rops, 138.
2Lev. 18:6-8
3Manners &amp; Customs of the Bible, #55, p. 3: Laban said to Jacob, "It is better that I give her to you (a relative), than that I should give her to another man." It is still customary among many Eastern tribes to give the preference in marriage to a cousin. It was expected in some generations, that a man would marry his cousin. He is not compelled to do it, but he has the right, and she is not allowed to many any

220



Chapter 15

careful. No couple was eligible for marriage who was not more than two successive steps away by blood and one away by marriage.1

It was common to take a wife from among one's own kith and kin, especially in early Bible history.2 Cousins marrying cousins was accepted3 Also in the early days, marriages with foreigners were recorded-even among God's covenant children.4

other without his consent.

1R.K. Bower, and G.L. Knapp., eds. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, Erdman Pub.: Grand Rapids, 1986. S.v. "Marriage." 264.
2Abraham sent his servant to find Isaac a wife from among his own family in Mesopotamia (Gen. 24:4). Isaac sent Jacob there to find a wife (Gen. 28:2). Laban declared that he would rather give his daughter to Jacob than to a stranger (Gen. 29:19), and Samson's father was saddened because his son did not choose a wife from his own clan (Judges 14:3).
3As in the case of Isaac taking Rebecca, and Jacob marrying Rachel and Leah.
4Roland De Vaux, Ancient Israel, s.v. "Marriage." Vol. 1 (McGraw Hill: New York, 1965) Marriages did take place, however, between persons of different families, and even with foreign women. Esau married two Hittite women (Gen 26:34), Joseph an Egyptian (Gen 41:45) and Moses a Midianite (Ex 2:21). Naomi's two daughters-in-law were Moabites (Ruth 1:4); David had a Calebite and an Aramaean among his wives (2 Sam 3:3), and Solomon's harem included, 'besides the pharaoh's daughter, Moabites, Ammonites,

221



Chapter 15

Secondly, It was illegal for that father to make a marriage with someone of another economic class. He could not marry his child up into a higher class, for this was seen as taking unethical advantage of the richer party. And he would not, of course, marry his child down.

They not only had religious and economic limitations, they also had social ones.

Some taboos were socially based. Within a rigidly stratified society, some social classes were considered inferior to others and therefore marriages between them would strain the social fabric of that society.1

So a marriage would not normally be made merely because a boy and girl found one another attractive. They and their feelings had very little to do with it. The groom's father instituted such arrangements because it was good for the

Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites' (l K 11:1; cf. 14:21). Ahab married Jezebel, a Sidonian (I Kings 16:31). Israelite women, too, were married to foreigners, Bathsheba to a Hittite (2 Sam 11:3), and the mother of Ihram the bronze worker to a Tyrian (I Kings 7:13-14). Such marriages, however, were never recommended. They not only tainted the purity of Israel's blood, but endangered its religious faith.

1Victor H. Matthews, Social World of Ancient Israel, 1250-587 B.C.E (Hendrickson Pub.: Peabody, Mass, 1995) 14.

222



Chapter 15

family, not for just the boy. Victor H. Matthews wrote:

Marriage was a delicately negotiated covenant sealing a significant political or economic contract. It was designed to bring together two households that were willing to exchange substantial goods and services with each other over a significant period of time (Gen. 24:3-4, 34:21, Ex. 2:21, 1 Sam. 25:43). Marriage was more a matter of business than of pleasure.1

It was the father of the prospective groom who approached the father of the girl for marriage talks. This negotiation could start when the children were babies, or some fathers waited for the input of the son to say whom he would prefer in marriage.

THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE GIRL'S FATHER

It was the obligation of the girl's father to assure his daughter's chastity. If she lost that, the father was a failure, the family was shamed and the girl was "damaged goods" who could not demand much of a "Bride price," even if she could be married off to someone. That is why, if the young man was the perpetrator of the illicit sex, he had to pay a small dowery to the wife's parents, he had to marry the girl,

1Matthews, 15

223



Chapter 15

and he lost the right of ever divorcing her (Deut. 22:27-29)1

To keep the purity of his daughter, then, the father severely limited the movements and the activities of his young female child. This was not so in the earlier times, 2 but by the time of Jesus, a girl was veiled and her association with boys was very strictly chaperoned, and sometimes non-existent. The father knew that, if his daughter was not a virgin, she was not legally eligible to marry. He could lose his land and property if he married his daughter off as a virgin when he knew she wasn't. And he would have to repay any dowery given in the arrangement. He could even lose his rights to the grandchildren born into that union. Celibacy was precious among the Jews.3

So the Father made arrangements, sometimes even when the children were still small. This type agreement was

1This passage reference is in context of a "rape," but it seems, since actual stoning was very seldom carried out (as was instructed for fornicating young people in Deut. 22:23ff), this passage was followed instead.
2In early Bible history, the young ladies had much more freedom than in the time of Christ. Young women were not veiled in those days, and they were not secluded. They looked after the sheep (Gen. 29:6), drew the water (Gen. 24:16; 1 Sam. 9:11) and visited other people's houses (Gen. 34:1). They could even talk to men without any embarrassment (Gen. 24:15-21; 29:11-12; 1 Sam. 9:11-13).
3Matthews, 14.

224



Chapter 15

an "agreement in principle." It was "penciled in"-a, "covenant of understanding,"1 later to be validated by the boy and girl.

Now don't get the wrong idea. When such agreements were formed, it did not mean that some old mean Daddy was going to force his child to marry against his or her will.

Compassionate fathers had the good of their children in mind. Thus they were careful to make only the finest match that could be made. Instead of young people marrying in a fever, cooler heads could prevail, and wisdom usually proved the marriage to be a good one.2 These parents, however, sometimes allowed the children to have a say in this

1Some times there was needed a "matchmaker" to bring parents together. This agent also worked with widows and widowers to make a second marriage, or with young people who were not easily married.
2Vaux, Ancient Israel, 30. The strict role of the father in matchmaking did not say that there was never room for the feelings of the young couple. There were love marriages in Israel. The young man could make his preferences known (Gen. 34:4; Judges 14:2). We read of some in early Bible history making their own decision (as Samson in Judges 14, and Esau in Gen. 26:34.) It was rarer for the girl to take the initiative, but we do read of Saul's daughter Mikal falling in love with David (1 Sam. 18:20)

225



Chapter 15

arrangement.1 Sometimes not.2

We Americans could only imagine what it was like. Picture growing up, seeing that little girl or boy across the room, and knowing that one day that person will be your mate.3 It is foreign to us, but not so strange to the rest of the world.

THE MARRYING AGE

How old was the average man and woman when they married? The teaching varied widely, depending on the Rabbi. In some instances it is safe to say they wouldn't have been called a "man" or a "woman" in our culture. The Bible gives no information about what ages people were when they

1In the times before Jesus, it was clear that such arranged marriages were the norm. Abraham's servant chose a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24). Rebecca, in this instance was given the choice of going or not (Gen. 24:37, 38) but some hold this was merely because her father was dead, and her brother (not her Father) had authority over her. Other examples of arranged marriages: Gen. 21:21, Gen. 34:4-6, Gen. 38:6, to name only a few.
2This is probably how Abigail wound up with a husband like Nabal (l Sam. 25:3). He was a good provider, but he lacked a great deal in his personality.
3Our American form of "dating" is not the best or even the most preferred method of mate selection. Some of the world's most beautiful love poetry and literature comes from cultures that practiced "Match making." by the parents.

226



Chapter 15

married, and the Law of Moses did not regulate it.

But judging by the teaching of some Rabbis in the time of Jesus, the tradition was this: boys could be married at around thirteen and girls at twelve and a half.1 It is not that they had to be married that young, but they could as soon as they reached puberty.

Other Rabbis were more in our line of thinking-at least for the boys. They said that a young man should be around eighteen, and the girl (again) should be around twelve. "The most liberal allowed that a man might wait until he had reached twenty-four before taking a wife; but the most rigid asserted that `The only Holy One-may He be blessed-cursed the man who, at twenty years, was not married.'.. One Rabbi advised a man to marry off his son "while you still have your hand upon his neck."2 But even if some did marry at thirteen, since the new couple did not move far away-not even out of the Patriarch's home, these young people did not assume the burden of adult life over night. They grew together as they grew up.

STEP ONE IN THE MARRIAGE COVENANT: THE "BRIDE PRICE"

When the marriage was agreed to, and when the

1De Vaux, 29.
2Rops, 137.

227



Chapter 15

children grew to the age of marriage, there came a day when the "bride price" would be paid.1 It went like this:

The son and the father would petition the bride's father by sending him a gift. In the early days, that gift was the "bride price," and it sealed the marriage. The father of the bride accepted the gift and allowed his child to be taken to the groom's home. They were then man and wife. But in the time of Jesus, the ceremony had become much more involved with more pomp and ceremony.

As best we can tell, in Christ's time, the gift purchased only the right for the young man and his father to visit the home of the young lady. The groom and his father would be escorted into the living quarters of the girl. The young man's father would bring with them a vessel of wine.

The two men would be ceremonially seated, and at the appropriate time, they would make their proposition to the lady's father. When he gave his approval, the young lady would be ceremoniously and elegantly summoned into the room.

The groom's father at this point, would open his flask and pour out a cup of the wine. Having poured it, he handed it to his son. The son drank, then handed the cup to the girl saying, "By drinking this cup, I vow that I am willing to give

1Gen. 24:12.

228



Chapter 15

my life for you."

If the young lady agreed, she too would take the cup and drink. The covenant process formally began at that point.

THE FORMAL PROCESS

The second step in the Jewish wedding system was known as the preparation. This was the period of the betrothal. It lasted for at least one year but could last much longer if, for example, the arrangement was made when the bride and groom were children. During the period of the preparation, the bride was prepared to be a fitting wife for her mate. It was also the period of time in which she was observed for her purity, which is why the betrothal always lasted for a minimum of one year - to allow at least a full nine months to pass to make certain that the bride was a virgin at the time of the betrothal. If she gave birth before the year ended, then it became known that she was in a state of immorality.1

THE BETHROTHAL OR "PLEDGE OF MARRIAGE"2

1Arnold Fruchtenbaum, op.cit.
2Matt. 1:18.

229



Chapter 15

To seal this bargain, two papers would be written up:

THE WRITING OF BETROTHAL

The first is the Shytree Eruseen -the "writing of betrothal." It spelled out what the groom would pay in this "bridal price," plus other details like the bride's inheritance in case the new husband dies. The groom would then pay the Mohar-the gift given to the bride's family.1 In the RSV, it is translated as the "marriage present." This was probably the most important thing in the covenant because it was "earnest money" for the transaction, and it sealed the bargain between the two families. If either party dropped out at this point, the Mohar was forfeited.

Some have said that this price was negotiated, and haggling could go on for weeks. Since Deut. 22:27-29 set the price of "50 shekels of silver," (not a large price), most held that to be the average gift, though in some cases it could be more. Once the price was settled, a paper was written up and signed on a Wednesday. In the case of a widow, it was signed on Tuesday. We will see why later.

The second paper was called the Shethuba-the marriage paper itself. In that paper, the groom promised "to please, to honor, to nourish and to care for her, as is the manner of the men of Israel." Without this paper, the wife would be no more

1Gen. 34:12, Ex. 22:16, Deut. 22:29, 1 Sam. 18:25.

230



Chapter 15

than a concubine, with very little rights or value. This ceremony would include the groom giving the bride a Mattan-a gift to be kept by the wife in case of her husband's death. Rabbis frowned upon marrying anyone without this paper. They thought of it only as "legal concubinage," and considered it ungodly.

THE BETROTHAL

This phase of the marriage covenant formed what we would call a "half-way marriage." The Hebrews called it aras, and it is translated Betrothal. No, the marriage has not yet taken place, but the betrothal implied a commitment almost as binding as marriage itself. If it was ever dissolved before the marriage, it required at least a formal divorce (Mat. 1:19). The betrothed persons were referred to as "husband and wife." (Gen. 29:21, Mat. 1:18, 20). Any infidelity to this betrothed state was treated as adultery and could result in death for the offender (Deut. 22:23-25).

The groom to be would then tell his fiancee two things: (1) that he was going to go and start building their home, and (2) when he is finished, he would come back and take her to himself, that, where he is, there she would be. It is very reminiscent of the words of Jesus to his beloved Apostles in John 14.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have

231



Chapter 15

told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

The wedding date was stipulated in the marriage paper to be sometime within one year of the signing. In Israel, Autumn was the favorite time of year for marriages. The harvest was in, the vintage over, minds were free and hearts were at rest. Then too, it was the season when the nights were delightful, a time perfectly suited for sitting up late.

But back to the signing of the paper. At that point, the excited young man would return to his father's house and begin his project: building his home. Actually he was building an "apartment" onto the home, because such a place was merely to be an addition to the father's house. All the male children would live with their wives on the "compound," and the family of the patriarch would grow.

The Jewish boy would work to build the addition. That was his job. The Father, however, would be the supervisor. He would watch the daily progress of the building, and would probably smile to see his son's eager efforts. You can just see the Father exhort his boy to slow down so the quality of the apartment wouldn't suffer.

And only that father could declare the job finished. Thus it was only when the Father gave permission that the wedding could take place. That may be what Jesus meant in

232



Chapter 15

Matthew 24 when he said:

36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

THE BRIDE'S WORK

In the interim, while the "groom to be" was busy building, the "bride to be" was busy in preparation. The young lady prepared her trousseau and perfected the art of cooking and sewing. One could imagine that she would learn her future husband's favorite food, and practice cooking those dishes. She was living ready for the day when the groom had all things prepared. She didn't know the day or the hour the groom would come, but she wanted to be prepared for him.

During this time, too, the man and the woman were granted more freedom to meet and speak with one another. Even in arranged marriages, most of them were not made with complete strangers (as was the case with Isaac and Rebekah in Gen. 24). Time was given for the two to come to know one another.

THE WEDDING DAY HAS COME

Finally, the day arrives. The young man has sawed every board, nailed every nail and sanded every spot to the standard of his father.

233



Chapter 15

If I were that father, I would have some fun. I would insist on one more "formal inspection tour" while my son "sweated it out." I would make an issue out of every little thing that could cause the boy to fail, but inside I would be smiling. Finally, I would say, "Alright son, let the wedding proceed."

Can you see it? With great joy, the groom runs to his friend who is going to serve as the "Philos numphios"-the "friend of the bridegroom."1 This special "friend" is much like the "best man" in our weddings today, but his duties were heavier.2

This "friend" hasn't had much to do with the physical building. Some say he took part in the early marriage negotiations on behalf of the groom. He has carried messages between the bridegroom and the bride during the weeks of betrothal.3 But now his work really begins. We can just see him as the groom comes running to him with a huge smile on his face. "It's time! It's time!" he says. The friend of the bridegroom smiles too.

1John 3:29. John calls himself "the friend of the bridegroom."
2In Galilee there was a custom of having a "friend" for both the groom and the bride, but we cannot be for sure if this was practiced in the time of Jesus.
3Manners &amp; Customs...pg. 423.

234



Chapter 15

In anticipation of this day, this friend has attained and set aside a trumpet made of a Ram's horn. The trumpet is called a Shofar. All Jewish weddings took place on a Wednesday1 in the evening, but such an announcement could be made at any time. The friend takes the shofar and quietly makes his way to the highest hill. There he puts the trumpet to his mouth and blows a low but powerful blast. The sound echoes through the valley and comes into every house in the village.

THE "TAKING"

The third phase of the marriage covenant was called hakhnashah -the "taking possession." It spoke of "taking her to his home" and "taking her to his body." Thus the angel told Joseph, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to yourself" (Matt. 1:20). We will look further into this stage later.

Now this may surprise you, but this "taking possession" is not done in a few moments. The ceremonies which follow go on over a two-day period. The bridal transfer is one day, and the wedding is the next. Read on, and we will see how this unfolds before us.

1All marriages for young people were held on Wednesday. It was said that the Sanhedrin council met on Friday, and if the groom wanted to claim the bride was not a virgin; if he wanted the marriage annulled, he would have time to make his objection. Marriages for widows or widowers were held on Thursday.

235



Chapter 15

At the home of the bride, you can imagine the feeling when the sound reaches the ears of the young lady. When the blast of the Shofar is heard, her heart races. She knows her beloved is coming. From that moment on, she is a bride.

It is time to put on her attire. She (like brides of today) wanted to be dressed in her finest when her groom came to get her. She had her wedding dress too, and special jewelry set back for just this time. She wore (in some cases) a diadem (a crown made of flowers in poorer marriages) just for this occasion. This is what the Bible meant when it talked about the church being like the bride of Christ "adorned for her husband."1

Immediately the party for the groom gather at the groom's house. A runner is sent through the streets heralding, "The bride groom is coming! The bridegroom is coming!" But don't put your coat on and look at your watch. Any time before Wednesday, or some time on Wednesday, the groom may come. It was the favorite joke in wedding parties to make that announcement, and then to wait, trying to catch the bridesmaids napping (as took place in Jesus' parable in Matthew 25.)2

Some time later, the groom begins his happy journey, slowly making his way over the hills and down the road with a group of his friends. He also wears a "diadem" and his

1Rev. 21:2
2Barclay, 320

236



Chapter 15

friends carry tambourines. A band sometimes accompanies the party, especially one beating the "marriage drum."1 The young man is going for his bride. And at the brides' home, she quickly begins gathering her luggage-things that probably have been packed for days now.

The Bride's unmarried friends (the virgins)2 come to the home in great excitement because this is the wedding day for their friend. They are going to take their place on the roadside with their lamps ready. Their job was to light the way of the procession in the dark with their lamps, and to provide light for the party that was coming. In Israel, true to the teaching of Jesus, there were usually 10 such virgins, dressed in white. They are what we would call the "bridesmaids." The friends of the bride and the friends of the groom who had been invited to the supper were called the "sons of the bride chamber"3

When the groom arrived at the home of his bride's parents, the father presented his daughter to his new son-in-

1De Vaux, 33.
2The Virgin in the New Testament (Parthenos) was at first any young single girl of marriageable age. It came later to mean only young ladies who have not had intercourse with a man.
3Matt. 9:15. The NIV translates the term "guests of the bridegroom." It was he who worked for the groom, buying the food and drink, making arrangements, etc.

237



Chapter 15

law, much like fathers do at weddings today. The bride comes out veiled, ready to be led to her husband's home.1 A few of these ceremonial statements by the fathers were written down and preserved. They are very simple. They said not much more than "you are from this day on, my son in law." The bride's parents would then join the procession and escort their daughter to her new home.

Marriages in the East are celebrated by processions of friends, who throng the streets and give noisy demonstrations of their joy. Singers and musicians accompany them, and the shouts and music are heard afar off. Rogers gives a lively account of a wedding party he once met not far from Mount Carmel. "Pleasant sounds of voices, songs, bells, and laughter reached us, and we saw an animated little party approaching, mounted on camels, whose nodding heads and necks were decorated with beads, shells, crimson tassels, and strings of little tinkling bells." -Domestic Life in Pales-tine, p. 94.2

Not all could afford camels, however, so they walked

1The word "bride" in the Greek is numphios, as seen in the Latin word numpho, "The veiled one."
2James M Freeman, Manners &amp; Customs of the Bible, (Logos International, Plainfield N.J.:1972) 282.

238



Chapter 15

in a happy procession through the small village where the couple lived. Sometimes, the bride was carried on a litter, dressed in her crown with a veil over her face. There was singing and music and laughter, and behind it all was the cadence of the "marriage drum."1

It was said that the procession wound its way slowly through the streets-sometimes up and down every street, to give the neighbors opportunity to give their congratulations to the happy couple.

THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN

When the party arrives at the new home, they go to the numphon.(the wedding hall or room where the ceremonies will be held). We can imagine the "great room" in the Father's house would hold such a crowd. Also, much of the games and dancing took place under the stars.

The procession reaches the bridegroom's house. His parents then utter a traditional blessing, which was taken up by all those present and which expressed their wishes for the happiness and. the fruitfulness of the marriage. There were several of these blessings in the Scriptures, and people were expected to know them. This was almost the only religious

1William Barclay in The Daily Study Bible Series Vol.2 Matthew (Westminster Press: Philadelphia. 1958) 319.

239



Chapter 15

element in the marriage.1

We are not yet ready for the wedding. This evening is passed in games and dancing: the bridegroom takes part, but the bride withdraws with her friends, her bridesmaids, into a room that was kept aside for her.

The great day came the next morning, and the atmosphere was that of a feast, a general rejoicing and a holiday. The young men played various games of skill and the young women danced in the vineyards, singing to draw the attention of any unattached male who might be inclined to marry.2

Towards the end of that day, there was a meal. This was the great "wedding supper" you read about in the Bible. When the company assembled, then the "master of the house" shut the door, and from that time on, the servants were not allowed to admit anyone-no matter the excuse.3

At this meal, the men and women were served separately. It was the time for the giving of the presents. The

1Patrick O'Brien, Daily Life In the Time of Jesus, 144-145. Much of what is related in the following paragraphs are taken from this excellent article.
2It seems that these virgins danced in the vineyard on any festive occasion. See Judges 21:19ff.
3See Matt. 25:10.

240



Chapter 15

bridesmaids stood around the bride, all dressed in white. There were usually ten of them, and, if we are to judge by the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins; they had burning lamps in their hands.

The bride sat under a canopy, the huppah, which had been part of the ritual for a very long time and which gave her the air of a queen. The whole ceremony, for that matter, had something regal about it, no matter how poor the family.

It was no doubt at this time that she sang those beautiful hymns of love from the Song of Songs

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for your love is more delightful than wine. 3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! 4 Take me away with you--let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. "(Song of Sol. 1:2 -4)

To which the bridegroom would reply, stepping towards her,

Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." 14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. (2:13), The groom continues:

241



Chapter 15

(Song of Sol. 1:15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

And he praises his bride's charms one after another, using those poetic images that the Scriptures offered in such abundance- her black hair like the kids in the mountains of Gilead, her teeth as white as the sheep that come from the washing, her lips as red as the anemone and her cheeks as rosy as a halved pomegranate.1

Seeds were now thrown down in front of the pair or a pomegranate was crushed (both were old fertility rites)-and a vase full of scent is broken.

A high point in the feast was the custom of spreading the cloak or skirt over the bride to indicate the marital commitment (Ruth 3:9, Ezek. 16:8)2

Somewhere in this ceremony too, the couple makes a solemn promise, and a blessing is given by the representative of the. community-probably the local Rabbi. These ceremonies and pledges were all taken "under the canopy."

Men and women were now at the same table. Everybody ate a great deal and everybody drank a great

1Song of Sol. 4:1ff.
2I.S.B.E. 264.

242



Chapter 15

deal-so much so that some times the wine would run out, just as it happened at Cana in Galilee.

What is quite certain is that the feast began again with even more noise and energy than before. Such celebrations, which sometimes lasted a week, began with a dance led by the bride and groom, wearing wreaths of flowers. Then the company joined in, with much eating, drinking and lively music. Arriving guests ritually washed their hands and feet at the door with water from stone vessels like the ones we read about in the "wedding feast of Cana of Galilee." The feast ended with preparation of a bridal chamber.1

Somewhere, perhaps in this ceremony, the wife is said to let down her hair before her husband. Since such a thing is not usually done in public, we may be forced into considering Fruchtenbaum's statement that the ceremony itself was done in semi-private, away from the crowd..2

THE BRIDAL CHAMBER

The supreme act of this marriage was the

1G. Ernest Wright, ed., Great People of the Bible, and How They Lived (The Readers' Digest Assoc.: Pleasantville, NY: 1979) 343.
2Arnold Fruchtenbaum:"The Jewish ceremony was conducted in the home of the groom. Only a few - usually the immediate family and two witnesses - were invited to come in and observe the wedding ceremony."

243



Chapter 15

consummation in the hupa or the "bridal chamber." At a certain point in the feast, the couple would vanish from the festivities. They would enter the bridal chamber that had been built by the groom. Inside that room was a bed with a canopy over it to show that the marriage would be consummated.

Here, three strange things would occur:

First, when the couple went into the Hupa, the "friend of the bridegroom" took a position outside the door. It was his duty to see that the couple could be alone without any disturbance.1

The second thing that is strange to us is this: the consumation in the marriage bed was, to them, the most important part of the covenant, because again, here is where blood was involved.

When a virgin presented herself to her husband, it was expected that, in that first sex act, the hymen of the woman would be ruptured, and this was the true seal of the marriage covenant. Both had "touched blood," and were thus forever bound in covenant to one another.

Then the third strange thing that occurred was the

1When this was done, the "friend's" work was finished. His only job was to escort them until they were married. This will help you understand the remarks of John the Baptist in John 3:28-30.

244



Chapter 15

presentation of the marriage sheet to the bride's parents. (Deut. 22:13-21) After the consummation, the sheet, with the virgin's blood on it, was presented to the bride's parents as proof that the bride's father did not defraud the groom's family in this marriage.

Later, if the young man were to claim that the woman was not a virgin when he married her (wanting out of the marriage), the father could produce this sheet as proof of the good faith in this covenant.1

And this was no little thing. If the husband's accusation was proven false by the presentation of that sheet to the judge, then the man was to be severely flogged and fined for defaming the name of his wife.

If, however, the father cannot produce that marriage sheet as proof of his daughter's virginity, the lady could be stoned to death for adultery while in her father's house before her marriage.

THE FESTIVITIES

With those ceremonies out of the way, the party continued; not just through the night, but into the next day and the next (in the case of a common or poor couple)-for a whole

1Deut. 22:13-21.

245



Chapter 15

week.1 The festivities lasted even longer in the case of rich people.

The newly married couple wore flowers during that time and were referred to as "Prince and princess." No matter how rich or poor, custom demanded that this new husband and wife supply enough food and drink for all their friends. It was a shame and a disgrace for them to run out of anything during that week. This explains the action of Jesus in John 2.

A LOVELY CUSTOM

The Jews had beautiful and delightful custom for the newly married. For one week, the couple was at home at the open house, but for one month thereafter, they were left alone by everyone so the couple could have time together. Then, for one year, a new husband was excused from any military and any community service. This was all done to acknowledge the need of the man and his wife to be together.

CONCLUSION

While Israel was faithful in covenant, their marriages took place much like this one did in our study. Such a marriage played its part in building a strong Israel. But when Israel turned away from God, they also turned away from the righteous marriage tradition.

1Gen. 29:27, Judges 14:12.

246



Chapter 15

Any culture that defies God's law in marriage will suffer, and our nation is suffering now. Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, even bestiality is practiced with impunity among us now. Marriage, among many, is not seen as a "covenant" that is holy and inviolate. It is merely a form we go through to get through the ceremony.

Christians cannot practice such ungodliness. We must live true to our covenant with God and our covenant with our mate. Anything else is unacceptable. Infidelity and treachery in covenant making brings misery in this life and doom in the life hereafter.1

A man wrote to Dear Abby recently, he said this: "Dear Abby: I am in love and I am having an affair with two different women. I can't marry them both. Please tell me what to do, but don't give me any of that morality stuff." Abby's answer is classic. "Dear Sir: The only difference between humans and animals is morality. Please write to a veterinarian."

God's people must be moral. We must believe in and practice "one woman for one man for one lifetime" morality. You need to choose this day which side of life you will live on: God's or the world's.

1Matt. 5:19, 19:9 etc.

247



Chapter 16

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMB

From the time that man and woman fell into sin in the garden of Eden, men and women have been seeking some way of saying to God, "I'm sorry, please forgive me". Strangely the method they were given to offer such apologies was "covenant," and the method of renewing that covenant was "sacrifice." Both covenant making and atoning for sin both demanded the offering of an animal as a substitute for sin.

We first saw it in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis three. Both young men came to worship, but Cain disobeyed God by offering up something that displeased the Lord. Abel, on the other hand, did it exactly right. He took the best lamb from his flock to offer to God. He stood over the animal with a knife to cut its throat. The little lamb did not protest. It didn't fight for its life. It took the knife and bled to death. Abel offered it up as a sacrifice to the Lord, and Jehovah accepted it. He was pleased.

On earth, we will probably never know why God demanded blood sacrifice for making covenant and for forgiving sin. We know that He did,1 but why blood? It could have been because there is life in the blood.2 One life was being substituted for another--an innocent lamb for a defiled

1Hebrews 9:18-22
2Leviticus 17:11

249



Chapter 16

sinner. Perhaps God allows the sinner to live because something innocent is offered in his place.

The Bible is clear: the lamb became one of the animals of choice in many of the sacrifices. Yes, all kinds of clean animals were allowed in some sacrifices, but far and away, the most popular animal for atonement was the lamb. Again, we don't know why, but a few guesses would be because it was innocent, so harmless and undefiled.

Also, the lamb was popular because of its price. In the Bible, the rich offered bulls, the poor offered pigeons, but the common man offered what he could: the lamb.

At the festivals in Jerusalem, thousands of lambs went to the slaughter as Jews renewed covenant with God. In 2 Chronicles 30:24 we read,

Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves.

In 2 Chronicles 35:7, king Josiah donated 30,000 lambs to be slaughtered on behalf of the people. Down through the centuries, one by one, the little lambs were taken and cut in the ceremonial fashion. Without ability to defend itself, without protest, each little lamb forfeited its life to fulfill God's demand for sacrificial blood. Silently the lambs died for the forgiveness of others.

250



Chapter 16

It is written that, during the Feasts, so many lambs died, that their blood ran down the side of the sacrificial alter in the court, into the drainage system and out into the brook Kidron. That little creek, it is said, ran blood red during those festivals. The lambs died quietly--behold, the silence of the lambs!

There were seven major feasts in Judaism, but here we want to look at just one: the feast of Passover. God required that a lamb be slain at Passover; and not just any lamb--it had to be a special one, selected in a special way.

Originally, no one understood why all the precautions had to be taken for this lamb at Passover--not for centuries did they understand--until Jesus came as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."1 Then people began to see that there were divine similarities between that Paschal lamb and Jesus Christ who was come to serve the same purpose. He was going to be the sacrifice that would place us into covenant with God.

Let's go back to the beginning of that feast, when God instituted it back in Egypt in Exodus 12:1-12. We have learned that the process was part of what the ancients called "the threshold covenant." It involved a lamb as a central focus. It was the blood of the lamb that saved the participants.

I want us to look at this Passover lamb, then compare him with our Lamb, Christ Jesus--the very one to whom we look today for the forgiveness of our sins. For you see, Jesus

1John 1:36.

251



Chapter 16

is said to be our Passover lamb (I Cor. 5:7). Note the similarities between that Old Testament lamb and ours:

CONSIDER THE SELECTION OF THE LAMB

The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
Exodus 12:5

This careful selection of the lamb led later to the formal inspection by the priests to determine if they were "Kosher" or not. God did not want some blemished or crippled lamb. It had to be perfect--whole and healthy--it had to be a costly loss to the participant when given.

And so it had to be with our sacrificial lamb. Whoever was to save humanity could not be some wasted derelict, spotted with sin. He had to be a Savior who was without blemish or defect.

For example, He had to be perfect in His prophetic heritage. Everything that the prophets ever wrote about this "Messiah" had to be completely and perfectly fulfilled.

Thus when Jesus came He fulfilled every prophecy. A virgin conceived just as Isaiah said she would.1 He came in the days of the Roman kings as prophesied by Daniel2 and was

1Is. 7:14.
2Dan. 2:44.

252



Chapter 16

born in Bethlehem Ephratha as foretold by Micah.1 Every little statement--every passing prophecy was completely fulfilled. That is why Jesus kept telling people to study the prophecies of the Old Testament to get the truth about Him.2

Second, Jesus had to be perfect in living. Only a sinless one could take the sins of others. He was perfectly free from sin and did not deserve to die. He paid a debt He didn't owe so we could be forgiven of a debt we couldn't pay. His death was indeed a costly loss to God.

That is why John declared of Him, Behold the lamb of God ( John 1:36). Peter also said of Him,

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
1 Pet. 1:18, 19.

Add to that this statement from the Hebrew writer:

1Micah 5:2.
2Luke 24:25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

253



Chapter 16

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin.
Heb. 4:15

1 Peter 2:22 also said He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.

Perfect--without sin--our Lamb had to be qualified in every way before God would accept Him as a substitute. And that is what Jesus was when he went to the cross as our substitute. Even His enemies could not find a charge against Him. Pilate kept asking "Why? What evil has he done?" But he received no answer. There was none. Jesus never did any wrong in His whole life. Hebrews 7:26 says that He was holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners...Yes indeed, He was the perfect Lamb--ideal for the perfect sacrifice.

Is it no wonder that Isaiah, foretelling the crucifixion in prophecy, told of God looking down on that sacrifice and declaring all other sacrifices to be at an end.

As a result of the anguish of His (Christ's) soul, He (God) will see it and be satisfied.
Is. 53:11

God saw the perfect sacrifice and said "That's enough. No more sacrifices are needed."

SEE THE SECLUSION OF THE LAMB

254



Chapter 16

3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.... 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
Ex. 12:3, 6

That is exactly how our lamb was selected. The historians tell us that Jesus entered into Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan in His triumphal entry (Matt 21). He remained in the city until they took Him early on the fourteenth day of the month to His trial. All the community of Israel slaughtered Him, and He died at twilight.'

Some time ago, a dear friend of mine, Latayne Scott wrote a beautiful poem about Jesus preparing Himself for the slaughter. She had just read William Barclay's commentary. Barclay said that historians, one year, recorded the death of 270,000 lambs at the feast in Jerusalem. Barclay told how the blood ran through the drainage system and bloodied up the brook Kidron. Using that picture, Latayne wrote:

In the temple now
They are killing the lambs.

1If that calculation is correct (and I believe that it is) then Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover feast one day before Israel did, giving meaning to John's words in John 13:l It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.

255



Chapter 16

There two hundred and seventy thousand will die.
The air of Jerusalem has been filled
With their bleating all day.
As red-sleeved priests
Perform their duty of meting out death.
One by one, white throats are slit.
A channel drains from the great stone altar
Down to the brook Kidron.
But in the dusk-light of this Thursday,
The leaves of the olive trees tremble
As the wind heaves like a drunkard.
Men approach the blood-swollen creek
And cross the bridge,
Hurrying toward the shade they seek.
Why has the lone Man stooped
At the Kidron before He crosses,
His finger just touching
The red water, and pauses, pauses?1

So Jesus remained in and around the city, sequestered until the time came for His death.

SEE THE SACRIFICE OF THE LAMB

... 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
Ex. 12:6

1&copy;Latayne C. Scott, used by permission.

256



Chapter 16

Surely Israel didn't know why they were doing all this--selecting the special lamb, holding it for five days and then killing their lamb at sundown. But when Christ came, He gave full meaning to those instructions. You see, our lamb, too, was slaughtered at twilight.

Jesus hung on the cross all afternoon and then died just before sunset. Note in the following passages that the Jews were in a hurry to get Jesus down because the coming sunset marked the beginning of the Sabbath.

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.
John 19:31

They were also in a hurry to bury Him before Sabbath.

Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
John 19:40

Jesus not only lived the perfect life, His timing at death

257



Chapter 16

was perfect too--just exactly when the Passover lamb was to be slain, He died.

SEE THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LAMB

...Israel must slaughter (the lambs) at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.
Ex. 12:7

Consider this closely: back in Egypt they took the blood of the lamb and sprinkled it on their doorposts as a sign to God that they were His covenant people. When God passed over Egypt, He killed the firstborn in every household except where the blood was sprinkled.

In the same way, the blood of our Passover lamb was taken, and it has been applied to the hearts of men and women through the centuries. All who participate are covered in covenant blood and are protected from all harm.

Just as judgment was going to fall that night on the land of Egypt, God has promised us that judgment is one day coming upon the world.1 The only way to escape is to be covered by the blood.2 If you are covered, then no harm will befall you.

11 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Peter 3:1-15.
2Romans 6:3-5.

258



Chapter 16

SEE THE SILENCE OF THE LAMB

This is not found in Exodus 12, and yet, the point must be made about Jesus, our Lamb. Like the animals through the centuries, our Savior went to His death without complaint, without struggle and without a sound of protest.

He would have a right to object and complain; after all, He was pure and perfect and He was asked to die a horrible death for filthy sinners like us. Yet He did it willingly.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God.'"
Heb. 10:5-7

When Jesus had an opportunity to defend Himself, He chose not to.

...one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 "Put your sword back in its place, "Jesus said to him, 'for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must

259



Chapter 16

happen in this way?"
Matt. 26:51

The prophets knew this was the way Jesus would respond to His enemies, this is why God said of the Savior through Isaiah:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.
Is. 42:1-3

As he prophesied the coming crucifixion, Isaiah later said of Jesus:

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Is. 53:7

When Jesus stood before His accusers, He was silent. He refused to cry out in protest. The scripture says:

The chief priests accused him of many things. 4

260



Chapter 16

So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of" 5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
Mark 15:3

Silently the lamb took the worst men could hand out. Without a protest He suffered. Quietly, He endured the coming death all the way to Golgotha. He spoke to His Father on the cross. He pleaded with Him to forgive His killers and begged for His lost fellowship with His Father; but there was no objection or complaint from His lips.

23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
1 Pet. 2:23

Here is the suffering Lamb in all His silent pain. He is the central focus of our faith--what He did and how He did it. Ray Boltz put it so dramatically in the song he wrote: we need to watch this Lamb.

WATCH THE LAMB

Walking on the road to Jerusalem
The time had come to sacrifice again.
My two sons they walked beside me on the road.
The reason they came was to watch the lamb.
"Daddy, Daddy, what will we see there?
There's so much we don't understand."

261



Chapter 16

So I told them of Moses and father Abraham.
And I said, "Dear children, watch the Lamb."

For there will be so many in Jerusalem today.
We must be sure the lamb doesn't run away
And I told them of Moses and father Abraham.
And I said, "Dear children, watch the Lamb."

We reached the city and I knew something must be wrong.
There were no joyful worshipers, no joyful worship songs.
I stood there with my children
In the midst of angry men.
And then I heard the crowd cry out,
"Crucify him!"

We tried to leave the city, but we could not get away.
Forced to play in this drama
A part I did not want to play.
Why upon this day were men condemned to die?
Why were we standing here
Where soon they would pass by?

I looked up and said, "Even now they come."
The first one cried for mercy, the people gave him none.
The second one was violent, he was arrogant and loud.
I still can hear his angry voice screaming at the crowd.
Then someone said "there's Jesus" and I could scarce believe my eyes.

A man so badly beaten, he barely looked alive.
Blood poured from his body,
From the thorns upon his brow...

262



Chapter 16

Running down the cross
And falling on the ground.

I watched Him as He struggled...
Watched Him as He fell.
The cross came down upon His back
The crowd began to yell.

In a moment I felt such agony
In a moment I felt such loss.
Until a Roman soldier grabbed my arm and said,
"You--carry his cross!"

At first I tried to resist him.
Then his hand reached for his sword.
And so I knelt and took the cross-from the Lord.
I placed it on my shoulder and started down the street.
The blood that He'd been shedding was running down my cheek.

They led Him to Golgotha.
They drove nails deep in His feet and hands.
And yet upon the cross I heard Him pray,
"Father, forgive them!"

Oh, never have I seen such love in any other eyes.
"Into thy hands I commit my spirit"
And then He died.
I stood for what seemed like years; I'd lost all sense of time.
Until I felt two tiny hands holding tight to mine.
My children stood there weeping.
I heard the oldest say,

263



Chapter 16

"Father, please forgive us
Our lamb just got away!"

"Daddy, Daddy, what have we seen here?
There's so much we don't understand."
So I took them in my arms
and we turned and faced the cross
And I said, "Dear children-watch the Lamb!"1

Brethren, I say to you, "Watch the Lamb!" He is the one who makes covenant between you and your God. It is His blood that covers your sins. It is His sacrifice that makes you whole. Because Christ the Lamb was silent and obedient--because He suffered it for you--now you can stand in covenant relationship with your God; whole, happy and forgiven! Thank God for His indescribable gift!

1&copy;Ray Boltz, "Watch The Lamb," Ray Boltz Ministries, Muncie, Indiana. Used by permission

264



Sources Consulted

Alexander, David. Eerdman's Handbook To The Bible. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1972.

Beasley-Murray, G.R. Baptism In The New Testament. Grand Rapids: Erdman, 1977.

Bright, John. The Kingdom Of God. Nashville: Abingdon, 1972.

Brinsmead, Robert. Present Truth: 5 December, 1976: 1-59.

________. Present Truth. 7 November 1976: 1-20.

Campbell, Alexander. The Covenant Story of the Bible. Boston: United Church Press, 1963.

DeRidder, Richard R. Discipling The Nations. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1971.

Fey, Harold E. The Lord's Supper: Seven Meanings New York: Harper Chapel Books, 1965, 47.

Ferguson, Everett. Early Christians Speak. Abilene: ACU Press, 1987.

Ford, Leighton. Good News Is For Sharing. Fullerton, Ca.: Cook, 1977.

Freeman, James M. Manners &amp; Customs of the Bible. Plainfield N.J.:Logos International, 1972.

265



Fruchtenbaum, Arnold."The Jewish Wedding System and the Bride of Christ," (Web article: http://www.ariel.org/ff00113c.html).

Geisler, Norman L. &amp; William E. Nix. A General Introduction To The Bible. Chicago: Moody, .

Good, Edwin M. You Shall Be My People. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1959.

Hillers, Delbert. Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1970.

Hodge, Charles, Systematic Theology 2: 354-61. (Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1952).

Kaiser, Walter C. Toward An Old Testament Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.

La Sor, William, David Hubbard &amp; Frederic Bush. Old Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, Eerdman, 1990.

McComiskey, Thomas E. The Covenants of Promise, A Theology of Old Testament Covenants. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989.

Millard, A. R. "Covenant and Communion In First Corinthians" in Evangelical Quarterly. (Jan. 87): 241-8.

Montgomery F. Essig. The Comprehensive Analysis of the Bible. Nashville: Southwestern, 1951.

266



Morris, Leon. Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1957.

Moulton, James H. and George Milligan. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 2, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1968.

Murray, John. "Elect" in Baker's Dictionary of Theology Grand Rapids: Baker, 1960.

Paher, Stanley W. The Eternal Covenant of Peace. Nevada Press: Las Vegas. 1996.

Pfeiffer Charles F. The Biblical World. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1966.

Prout, Elmer. "Covenant Code," in the Firm Foundation, 96 June 5, 1979.

Richardson, Alan and John Bowden. The Westminster Theo-logical Dictionary, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983.

Robertson, O. Palmer. The Christ of the Covenants Phillips-burg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980.

Smith, Mont W. What The Bible Says About Covenant. Joplin: College Press, 1983.

Szikszai, Steven. The Covenants In Faith And History. Philadelphia: Geneva Press, 1968.

Tenney, Merrill C. Zondervan Bible Dictionary. Grand Rap-ids: Zondervan, 1963.

267



Trumbull, H. Clay. The Blood Covenant, Kirkwood, Mo; Impact Christian Books, 2000.

________. The Salt Covenant.

________. The Threshold Covenant.

Vine, W.E. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming Revell, 1966.

Winfield, M. "The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament in the Old Testament and In The Ancient Near East," The Journal of the American Oriental Society 90 (1970), 184.

Witsius, Herman,. The Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man. Vol. 1, Williamsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian &amp; Reformed, 1990.

Young, Edward J. An Introduction To The Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1965.

Young, Robert. Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, N.D.

268